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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED. STATES OF AMERICA. 



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Key to Ghostism. 



Science and Art Unlock its Mysteries. 



REV. THOMAS MITCHELL. 

Brooklyn, N. Y., 
Autlwr of "Philosophy of Cod and the IVoriei," " 7 lu S-jjord oj T/iith," etc. 




"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have fa- 
miliar spirits, and unto wizards that peep and that mutter: for the liv- 
ing to the dead; should not a people seek imto their God? To the 
law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is 
because there is no light in them." — Isaiah 8: 19, :o. 



u.jp^::.:,jL. 



NEW YORK: 
S. R. WELLS & CO., PUBLISHERS. 

No. 737 Broadway. 
1880. 



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TT 






Copyright. 
JOHN L. MITCHELL. 



PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. 



Searchers for truth are willing to examine all 
kinds of testimony that leads lo its elucidation, and 
will read all sides before deciding. 

In this spirit is this book presented, believing its 
readers will be able to investigate, and accept or 
reject in accordance with tlie force of argument 
presented. 



INTRODUCTION. 



LOVE OF THE MARVELLOUS. 

THERE is perhaps no other human sentiment so 
prolific of evil consequences to mankind as 
the love of the marvellous. In the second century 
the Pagans martyred the Christians as Atheists be- 
cause they had no symbol of God, no palpable thing 
to represent " the Mystery,'" as their idols did the un- 
seen deity ; but that they worshipped Jesus Christ as 
their God, was too literal, too easy of comprehension, 
to be tolerated. Had they consented to the compi-o- 
mise of worshipping Him as a representation or mani- 
festation of God as He is seen in the godlike charac- 
ter of His saints, and not as God Himself, the mystery 
would have remained and the palpable idolatry have 
satisfied the heathen, and all would have been con- 
ciliation. Or had the Christians believed the heathen 
mystery that at death, when every thing appears to 
be lost, every thing was gained, and that the man 
proper goes immediately on high, to live with the 
gods without bodies to all eternity, then also had 
the Pagans and Christians lived in peace ; but when 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

they looked for future rational existence to a resur- 
rection of the dead — the ver}- body to be made im- 
mortal — this was too gross, too atheistic, too materi- 
alistic for the refined spiritual Pagans, and the 
Christians were martyred v\-ithout mercy. Whoever 
wishes to satisfy themselves upon this subject can do 
so by reading the correspondence between Pliny and 
Trajan, a.d. 98, Marsh's Ecc. History, p. 171. 

A short time since, in conversation with a modern 
type of this fondness for the marvellous, he made the 
remark, while we Vv'ere attempting to explain or to 
give the scriptural explanation of one of his religious 
mysteries, " Whenever I can comprehend a thing and 
it loses its mystery, it also loses its interest for me." 
There is no community between the two ideas of 
holding to an opinion beyond our comprehension and 
one repugnant to it. The first may be a philosophic 
necessit}', while the other has its source in a morbid 
credulity utterly unworthy of an intelligent mind. 

These t3'pes of the appetite for the mar\-ellous 
are as common among scientists as religionists. 
Among the latter are minds who reject the idea that 
a personal God made the world, when all the analo- 
gies and obser\-ation of nature and history show that 
intelligent persons can do things, and some of them 
wonderful things, and that unintelligent nature can 
originate and make nothing ; and yet the}* can be- 
lieve the infiniteh' more marvellous idea that dead in- 
animate matter, lifeless nature, originated and made 



INTRODUCTION. V 

herself — that the impersonal made the personal, the 
inorganic the organic, the unintelligent the intelli- 
gent, or the lifeless the living. It is a sufficient tax 
upon human reason to believe that a personal, liv- 
ing, intelligent Being — whose existence it is much 
more absurd to deny than to admit — made the world 
because all these made things exist ; but how much 
more of a tax to believe the above absurdities, every 
one of which human reason is as competent to un- 
derstand to be such, as a man knows himself to be 
unable to make a thing of life and intelligence ; and 
who also knows himself to be able to originate and 
make intricate and delicate machinerj- ; ^^hile na- 
ture can make nothing, but is absolutely confined to 
the undeviating task of evolving from herself what 
some power of which she knows nothing first in- 
volved in her ! 

TYPZ3 C" THS IIAHVELLCUS IH CJH TAY. 

Behold the marvellous types who in our day are 
called "advanced scientists," possessing the credu- 
lous belief in the evolution of all things from nature, 
but rejecting the prior involution of these things, 
which necessitates a creation, and this a creator ! 
All the manifestations of nature may unroll from her 
bosom, but they were never enrolled within her. They 
may be uncovered and come out of her, but they 
were never covered up or put into her. A thing may 
be taken out of another which did not have it within ! 



Vi INTRODUCTION. 

It ill becomes such to harp about evidence and 
reason, as Professor Tyndall does when he slurs Chris- 
tianity by characterizing its advocates " the believ- 
ers in ' the Mystery.' " 

These are the materialists ; these are they who en- 
slave reason Vo pride of opinion., and pay their devo- 
tions at the godless shrine of the simplest form of 
inanimate matter, professing to see in it, through 
the most marvellous conception, " the form, potency, 
and promise of life," as it is expressed by Professor 
Tyndall ; ' ' and which matter, we in our ignorance [he 
continues] cover with opprobrium,'' but which this 
great scientist venerates as his god. So far have such 
men degraded true science, that to dub a man "a 
scientist" is almost to burlesque him. Under the 
specious name of " science" these World Worshippers 
have so poisoned the minds of the young men of 
our age, that either revealed, Bible, or natural truth, 
fails to command respect, much less to produce con- 
viction, especially upon the minds of those educated 
in the higher schools. They live in a halo of the 
marvellous and feed upon the highest wrought fiction. 
Hence the demand for " Novels." These, too, are 
the men who drink in the wonders of Spiritualism. 
Around these shrines also the Ghost Worshippers pay 
their devotions, whose hallucinations are baptized the 
" New Science," the " New Religion," when it is as 
old as heathen idolatry, and with its lying revelations 
has in all ages of the world belittled Christ to the level 



INTRODUCTION. vii 

of Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, and Zoroaster, and de- 
graded the Bible to the standard of their writings. 
Knowing the power of these hallucinations, when 
once woven around the mind, we have no hope of in- 
ducing the spirit-winged sky travellers to descend to 
solid truth. But to save, if possible, the uninitiated 
from the ruinous meshes which disqualify them for 
answering the purpose of their being both in time and 
in eternity, was our motive for writing this book. 

Spiritualism is called ''the Neru Science/' but is 
it science to contradict physiology by declaring a 
man is alive when he is dead, and when his lungs 
are decomposed ? That he thinks when the brain is 
Ihus destroyed ? That he lives without nourishment, 
walks without legs, flies without wings, talks with- 
out organs of speech, and uses the living organs of 
others, but cannot use his own, simply because he 
has once vacated them ? The word " philosophy," 
which gives the reason of things, is carefully avoided 
in the ghost literature. It is called "the New 
Religion," and the hope it holds out to its adherents 
is to make them ghosts ; but they will nevertheless 
pay the doctors large sums to prevent the metamor- 
phosis from taking place. O Science ! O Religion ! 
is this thy work ? 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Publisher's Preface i 

Introduction iii 

Love of the Marvellous iii 

Types of the Marvellous in our Day v 



Antiquity of Spiritualism 13 

Its Evil Effects in our Day 15 

What Spiritualism Believes 16 

Who are in this Cage of Unclean Birds 17 

Modern Spiritualists Subjects of Prophec)' 17 

Pharaoh Abandoned by all his Wizard Mediums 20 

The Red Sea Catastrophe 20 

The Materializations of the Magicians 21 

What is Mind ? .* 23 

The Spinal Cord, and its Office 25 

Facts Established by Phrenology 23 

The Brain Double: but Mind a Unit 29 

Intellect Depends on Brain 30 

Organs of Sense Indispensable to Thought 32 

How Came the First Thought of the First Man ? 33 

Animal Life Essential to Thought 35 

Huxley and Tyndall's Definition of Life 36 

Searching in the Wrong Direction for Life 38 

No Being is Able to Comprehend Himself sg. 

The Principle Applied to Evolutionists and Spiritualists. ... 40 

John Locke's " Essays on the Human Understanding" 41 

Materiality and Immateriality Contrasted 42 

Thought Does not Travel 43 

Rev. John Wesley on the Relations of Brain and Thought.. 44 

Mr. Wesley's Belief 45 

Bishop Foster's Belief 45 



X CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Luther did not Believe the Soul Immortal 45 

Christ is a Material Being 46 

Joseph Cook and Wesley 47 

Man Relieved of all Moral Responsibility 50 

Which ? 50 

Thought the Result of Organization 54 

The Relation of Thought and Ghostism 56 

The Brain and Senses Evolve Mind 59 

The Relations of Life and Mind Illustrated 61 

Animal and Mineral Magnetism Identical \ 65 

Conditions of Breathing 67 

The Lungs, Electricity, and Respiration 68 

Electricity and the Circulation. 69 

The Motions of the Brain and Functions of Life 70 

Philosophy of Memory 72 

The Brain Grows Rigid by Age. 73 

Physical Impressions upon the Brain the Fundamental 

Principle 73 

Illustrated by the Art of Photography 75 

The Superiority of the Mental Structure 77 

Frauds in Spiritual Phenomena Exposed by Mr. D. D. Home. 76 

How the Tricks are Perpetrated 87 

Disclosures by the " Spiritual Scientist" 93 

The Total Dark Seances 95 

The Ghost Caught 99 

The Eddys Caught at Last 100 

Spiritualism Exposed , 100 

The Spirit Materialized loi 

The Medium's Explanation 102 

A Woman Suspended by Magnetism 102 

The Telephone and the Human Ear 105 

The Phonograph 106 

Modern Art Illustrated 108 

Dr. Franklin's Theory of Electricity no 

Dupuy's Theor)' iil 

Laws Governing Electricity 112 

Chemical Composition of Electricity 113 

Power of Mental Magnetism 114 

The " Experimentum Crucis" , 115 



CONTENTS. Xi 

PAGE 

Scientific Principle of the Phenomenon ii8 

Siatc-Writing 121 

" In and Out of the Form" 123 

"Try the Spirits" — i John 4:1 125 

Mind Reading 125 

Real Phenomena of Mr. Home's Book 127 

Childish Nature of Spirit Revelations 131 

Spirits See no Personal God 134 

Mr. Home in Florence 135 

Reconciled with Our Principle 143 

Acts Covering the Whole Phenomena 146 

Serious Questions 147 

Do Ghosts Progress, as is Claimed ? 151 

How Mediums Read Messages 152 

Our Own Experiments 154 

Effect of Will upon a Circle 158 

Consulting a Clairvo)'ant I5g 

What a Clairvoyant Sees 160 

Why Clairvoyants Excel their Natural Powers 161 

A Remarkable Feature of Insanity 164 

Unknown Tongues Spoken from Brain Injuries ^ 166 

Brain Printing 167 

Effects Produced by Fever 169 

Mental Faculties Lost and Recovered 170 

Infant Impressions Recalled at Mature Age 171 

Brain Print Illustrated by Photography 171 

Conditions of the Speaking Machine 173 

Cultivation of Memory 174 

The Witch of En-dor 176 

Saul a Full Ghost Believer 180 

The Medium Reads Saul's Brain 181 

Saul's Faith in Witchcraft the Cause of His Suicide 182 

Source of the Intelligence of Home's Ghosts 182 

Mental Telegraph 184 

, The Philosophy of this Communication 186 

Our Own Experiments 189 

Practical Tests for Spit itualists 190 

No Being can use the Living Organs of Another 193 

The Involuntary Organs cannot be Tampered with 195 



Xll CONTENTS. 

Human Intelligence cannot Exist without Brain, or when it 

Softens ; much Less when Decomposed 197 

Review of Henry Kiddle's Book ig8 

Monotonous Sameness of Spirit Messages 200 

Mr. Kiddle the Sole Ghost 201 

Rule of Interpretation 202 

Sailing under False Colors 205 

God's Kingdom not in the Sky, but on the Earth 207 

Ghostism and Future Life Contrasted 209 

Kiddle's Doctrines Heathen Philosophy 211 

Different Hypotheses of Immortality. 212 

The Resurrection Change 213 

The Common Hypothesis Absurd 214 

Summing up the Argument 216 

Swedenborg Adopted , 218 

A Ghostly Blasphemer 220 

Book on the Brain 222 

Swedenborg and Judge Edmonds 225 

Do Ghost Children Grow in Ghostland ? 228 

Spiritualism is Real Pantheism 232 

Superficial Reasoning 234 

Apparent Insincerity of Leading Spiritualists 236 

Mind Reading and Judge Edmonds 239 

Mind Reading Facts 241 

Spirit Theory Exploded 244 

Another Test of Exposure 245 

Ghostism is Annihilation. , 247 



KEY TO GHOSTISM. 



ANTIQUITY OF SPIRITUALISM. 

IT cannot be denied that Spiritualism is very an- 
cient ; and, that it may be seen in what esteem 
it was looked upon by the Author of the Bible, we 
will here introduce a few passages : 

"A man, or woman, that hath a familiar spirit 
[familiarly gliding into other people's minds, read- 
ing therefrom, and then returning to the same indi- 
viduals the information in the shape of revelations 
from the spirits of the dead], or that is a wizard, shall 
surely be put to death : they shall stone them with 
stones ; their blood shall be upon them" (Lev. 20 : 
27). " And Manasseh caused his children to pass 
through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom : 
also he observed times, and used enchantments and 
witchcraft, and dealt with 2l familiar spirit, and with 
wizards : he wrought much evil in the sight of tha 
Lord, to provoke him to anger" (2 Chron. n '•^)- 
" And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak 
out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out 
of the dust, and thy voice shall be as one that hath 
a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech 
shall whisper out of the dust" (Isa. 29:4). "Re- 
gard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek 



14 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

after wizards, to be defiled by thetn : I am the Lord your 
God" (Lev. 19 : 31). " There shall not be found 
among you any one that useth divination [or pretend- 
ers to prophecy], or an observer of times, or an en- 
chanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with 
familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For 
all that do these things are an abomination unto the 
Lord : and because of these abominations the Lord 
thy God doth drive them out from before thee" 
(Deut. 18 : 10-12). " Now Samuel was dead ; and 
Saul had put away those that had familiar spirits, 
and wizards, out of the land" (i Sam. 28 : 3). 
" Moreover, the workers with familiar spirits, and 
the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all 
the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah 
and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away" (2 Kings 
23 : 24). 

A " wizard" is a conjurer ; one who professes to 
have the power to call spirits back from a supposed 
unseen world ; an inquirer of the spirits of the dead. 
An " enchanter" is one who has spirits at his com- 
mand. A " charmer" is one who has the power of 
enchantment. A " necromancer" is one who pre- 
tends to foretell future events, by holding converse 
with departed spirits, and by making revelations 
communicated from the spirits of the dead. A 
" sorcerer" is a conjurer, an enchanter, a magician. 
Divination is the act of foretelling future events, 
or discovering things secret or obscure, by the aid 
of superior beings. It is effected by a kind of in- 
spiration, or divine afflatus. Now as modern Spirit- 
ualism pretends to do all these things, and in all these 
manners, it is proper to call it by all these names. 
Those therefore who practise these things are 



ITS EVIL EFFECTS IN OUR DAY. 1 5 

Familiar Spiritualists, Enchanters, Charmers, Ma- 
gicians, Conjurers, Sorcerers, Wizards, and Diviners. 
" And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them 
that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep 
and mutter : should not a people seek unto their God ? 
[this is a part of what the wizards say] for the living 
to the dead ?" Then comes the reply by which all 
these should be answered, and their sorceries tested : 
" To the law and to the testimony : if they speak not 
according to this word, it is because there is no light 
in them" (Isa, 8 : 19, 20). 

After such an array of evidence contained in the 
Holy Scriptures against ancient familiar spiritualism, 
in what state of mind and heart must those men be 
who have the audacity to quote the Bible as approv- 
ing its practice or inculcating its sentiments ? If the 
death-penalty, even by stoning, was inflicted upon 
those who had familiar spirits, and those also who 
consulted them, in ancient times, we would like to 
know upon what principle the modern familiar 
Spiritualists can be considered less guilty ? 

ITS EVIL EFFECTS IM OUR EAY. 

If in its dark seances of antiquity the revelations 
and instructions of God were so effectually opposed, 
in strengthening the hands of the wicked by its lying 
wonders, purporting to have come from the suppos- 
ed spirit world, in those ages of comparative dark- 
ness, that it brought His curses upon whole nations, 
what can be said of those who do worse in these days, 
not only in opposition to the laws of Moses, but 
to utter subversion of all the doctrines of Christian- 
ity and her system of religion ? Be astonished, O 
earth ! while we recount the darkest deeds of infernal 



l6 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

blasphemy, the most subtle and damnable opposition 
the Gospel has ever been called to confront, from 
men who with infinite impudence attempt to drag 
in the Bible for their approval. It is the gathering 
up of all the artful sentiments scattered around the 
shrines of the idol gods of the ages and nations of the 
world ; the myths from all heathen philosophy ; the 
lying wonders from science " falsely so called ;" the 
silly fables from every diseased and deranged brain ; 
the culmination of every mysterious flight of winged 
fancy ; the product of the marvels of the universe ; 
and, crowning all, exhibiting infinite pride of opinion 
and deep-seated hatred to the restraining principles of 
the Gospel of Christ imposed upon the passions and 
wills of men. 

WHAT SPIRITUALISM BELIEVES. 

Spiritualism believes in the existence of no person- 
al God except a deified pantheistic universe. It re- 
duces the Lord Jesus Christ to a spirit medium, with 
no more claim to Godhead than any of the mediums, 
and His revelations to no greater authority. The 
Holy Ghost comprehends all the ghosts or spirits of 
the dead, of which they make a part. Their revela- 
tions are superior to those contained in the Bible, as 
they are later ; and wherever and whenever there is 
disagreement, the testimony of the spirits is taken in 
preference. Angels are the spirits of the dead who 
once dwelt in bodies of men on earth. Christ never 
died. What is called the death on the cross was only 
His flight from the carcass which they put in the 
grave. They also deny His resurrection ; and as 
these two doctrines are fundamental to the Christ- 
ian system, there is therefore nothing of it. That 



SPIRITUALISTS SUBJECTS OF PROrilECY. 1/ 

Christ's death has anything to do with the salvation 
of men, is held in utter derision. That the Bible 
was given by any other inspiration than that common 
to the familiar spiritualists, is denied. That there is 
any future punishment for the wicked, except the pur- 
gatorial discipline of Socrates, is rejected as a fable. 
That there is to be a future general judgment-day is 
simply a matter to be scoffed at. That the world is 
ever to have an end, is also denied. 

They believe that the spirits of the dead are the 
guardian angels of the living, taking the place and 
doing the work of God, Christ, the Holy Ghost, and 
the Bible, in saving men ; which consists in reducing 
all to ghosts, and landing them in a ghostly world. 

WHO ARE III THIS CAGE OF UHCLEAH BIRDS. 

There are in this cage of unclean birds, Evolution- 
ists in science. Unitarians and Universalists in relig- 
ion ; in skepticism, Atheists. Pantheists, Deists, and 
Infidels of every grade and degree : and all this un- 
restrained infamy and blasphemy is called " the pro- 
gressive liberalism of the nineteenth century." Now, 
if God held the sinners of ancient familiar spiritual- 
ism to be, as we have seen, not fit to live in the world, 
much less to live with Him in the world to come, in 
what esteem must He hold modern familiar spiritual- 
ists — both those who have the familiar spirit and use 
it for such a purpose, and those who consult them ? 

MODERN SPIRITUALISTS SUBJECTS OF PROPHECY 

That the Spiritualists were to come and do the 
work they are doing in the last days of the world's 
history, is made the subject of numerous prophecies, 



l8 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

a single one of which we here introduce, prefacing it 
with a brief review of the contest between Moses and 
the Spiritualists in the court of Pharaoh. 

God was about to send Moses as the instrument of 
delivering His people from the cruel Egyptian bond- 
age under which they had suffered four hundred 
years ; but Moses complained that the king would 
not believe him, or that it was the voice of God that 
had spoken to him. " And the Lord said unto him, 
What is that in thine hand ? And he said, A rod. 
And he said, Cast it on the ground. And he cast it on 
the ground, and it became a serpent ; and Moses fled 
from before it. And the Lord said, Put forth thine 
hand, and take it by the tail. And he caught it, and 
it became a rod in his hand : that they may believe 
that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abra- 
ham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath 
appeared unto thee. 

" And the Lord said. Put now thine hand into thy 
bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom : and 
when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as 
snow. And he said. Put thine hand into thy bosom 
again. And he did so, and plucked it out of his bosom, 
and, behold, it was turned again as his other flesh. 

" And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, where- 
with thou Shalt do signs. See, I have made thee a 
god to Pharaoh •, and Aaron thy brother shall be 
thy prophet. And Moses and Aaron went in unto 
Pharaoh, and did as the Lord commanded. And 
Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before 
his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh 
also called in his wise men [wizards], and the sorcer- 
ers. Now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in 
like manner with their enchantments ; for they cast 



SPIRITUALISTS SUBJECTS OF PROPHECY. IQ 

down every man his rod, and the}' became serpents : 
but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods." 

This imitation of the miracles of Moses by the 
magicians had the effect to harden the heart of the 
king, who supposed Moses was another sorcerer, only 
a little superior to his own wizards. 

" And the Lord said unto Aaron, Stretch forth 
thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the 
rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come 
up upon the land of Egypt. And he did so ; and 
frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And 
the magicians did so with their enchantments, and 
brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt [and Pharaoh 
still refused to let the Hebrews go]. And the Lord 
said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy 
rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may 
become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. And 
Aaron smote the dust of the earth-, and it became 
lice in man and in beast ; all the dust of the land 
became lice. And the magicians did so with their 
enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not : 
so there were lice upon man, and upon beast. Then 
the magicians said unto Pharaoh : This is the finger of 
Godr 

This wonder was too wide-spread and prominent 
to be the wizard-work of a priest-seance, which even 
the Egyptian Spiritualists had honesty enough to 
admit ; but Pharaoh still refused, and was hardened 
in his unbelief by probably supposing Moses to be 
only a superior medium. 

" And the Lord said unto Moses and unto Aaron, 
Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let 
Moses sprinkle it toward heaven in the sight of Pha- 
raoh. And it shall become small dust in all the land 



20 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with 
blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the 
land of Egypt [which he did] ; and it became a boil 
breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. 
And the magicians could not stand before Moses, be- 
cause of the boils ; for the boil was upon the magic- 
ians, and upon all the Egyptians." 

Here the sorcerers gave over the contest. Dark- 
ened rooms and closed cabinets could not conceal 
their deceptive tricks. The boils were " upon all the 
Egyptians.'' Had they been confined to the court of 
Pharaoh, the necromancers might have still carried 
on their deception by imitating the miracles of Moses 
on a small scale ; but now it became folly. 

PHARAOH ABAHDOHED BY ALL HIS WIZARD HEDIUMS. 

The pride of Pharaoh, however, was not to be 
humbled, even though abandoned by all his wizard 
mediums ; and the most severe and dreadful of the 
plagues were yet to come. Those having familiar 
spirits may be convinced of the error of their prac- 
tice, yet those who surround and impress them with 
the revelations and inspirations are the stubborn 
living, and not those of the dead spirits. Hence the 
magicians said unto Pharaoh [he who carried on his 
tyrannous government through the deception of his 
wizards] : " How long shall this man [Moses] be a 
snare unto us ? Let the men go, that they may serve 
the Lord their God : knowest thou not yet that 
Egypt is destroyed ?" 

THE RED SEA CATASTROPHE. 

There are yet five plagues, but we shall only notice 
the last. " And Moses stretched out his hand over 



MATERIALIZATIONS OF THE MAGICIANS. 21 

the sea ; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by 
a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea 
dry land, and the waters were divided. And the 
children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon 
the dry ground : and the waters were a wall unto 
them on their right hand and on their left, and the 
Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the 
midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's horses, his char- 
iots, and his horsemen. And the Lord said unto 
Moses, Stretch out thine hand over the sea. And 
Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea. And 
the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and 
the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came 
into the sea after them. Thus the Lord saved Israel 
that day out of the hand of the Egyptians ; and 
Israel saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-shore. 
And Israel saw the great work which the Lord did 
upon the Egyptians : and the people feared the Lord, 
and believed the Lord, and His servant Moses" (Ex- 
odus, 4th to 14th chapters. 

THE I.IATERIALIZATIONS OF THE HAGICIAHS. 

The materialization by the magicians of the ser- 
pents and frogs — and which was done in the court 
of Pharaoh — seemed to have produced such a con- 
viction upon the mind of the king, that all the sub- 
sequent wonders of Moses failed to remove it, as to 
its all having been the work either of his own ma- 
gicians, or of Moses ; and his insane folly was only 
manifest by the destruction here recorded. 

The Hebre\v deliverance from Egyptian bondage 
is typical of the resurrection deliverance of all God's 
people from the bondage of corruption at the last 
day, and their immortal translation into the kingdom 



22 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

of God, the land of promise — the New Heavens and 
New Earth — the history of which is recorded jn 
advance of its creation, in the last two chapters of 
Revelation. Hence the whole redeemed company 
" sang the song of Moses the servant of God, and the 
song of the Lamb." Therefore, as Israel was re- 
deemed by judgment and the destruction of their en- 
emies, so will all true believers be redeemed at the 
last day. And just as the wickedness and folly of 
the Egyptian Spiritualists was manifested by the 
death of Pharaoh and his deluded hosts in the Red 
Sea, so shall the wickedness and folly of the modern 
Spiritualists be exposed, and they themselves de- 
stroyed by Christ the Lord, whom they have slan- 
dered to such a degree that it seems impossible that 
they should reverence Him as their God : and not to 
do this is to trust in the magicians for deliverance. 

This brings us to the consideration of the prophetic 
prediction concerning the modern Spiritualists, to 
which we have referred ; and to see its application to 
them it seems only necessary to read it, especially 
in view of what has been recorded concerning the 
magicians of Pharaoh in their opposition to Moses, 
and the end of their deceptions. 

" This know also, that in the last days perilous 
times shall come. [Paul then goes on to draw the 
picture of the formal, but godless church of the last 
days, which imperils its salvation, and then describes 
the class to which we have alluded.] For of this 
sort are they which creep into houses, and lead cap- 
tive silly women [the mediums who have the " fa- 
miliar spirit"], laden with sins, led away with divers 
lusts [the free-love mania], ever learning, and never 
able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as 



WHAT IS MIND? 23 

Jannes and Jambrcs [two of Pharaoh's magicians] 
withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth : 
men of corrupt minds, reprobate conccrniih:!; the faith. 
But they shall proceed no further : for their folly 
shall be manifest unto all men, as theirs also was" 
(2 Tim. 3 : i, 6-9). 

The fulfilment of such a prophecy by modern 
Spiritualism gives additional evidence that we are in 
the " last days" of the world's history. The fear- 
ful fact of this prophecy to the Vv^izard opposers of 
the truth of God is, that their deception and folly 
will not be manifest until the great day of final 
reckoning comes, and when there will be no time left 
them for repentance ; to which also reference is thus 
made : " Therefore judge nothing before the time, 
until the Lord come, who will both bring to light 
the hidden things of darkness, and will make mani- 
fest the counsels of the hearts" (i Cor. 4 : 5). Then 
will the folly of the charmers — the familiar spiritual- 
ists — be apparent ; and their end may be read in the 
typical destruction of Pharaoh, the great consulter 
of familiar spiritualists, with the enchanting mediums, 
when the Lord God whom they have abused takes 
the reins of government and puts away all His ene- 
mies. 

WHAT IS MIND? 

The first question we propose for discussion is 
" J//W." 

There is no dispute about the fact that the word 
mind is used in the Bible, as elsewhere, to signify 
the seat and faculty of originating thought. We do 
not, therefore, propose to consider it, or any other 
question in this work, in a theological light, but shall 



24 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

proceed at once to its investigation in a scientific and 
philosophical point of view. We may define mind 
to include the existence of all those organs the exer- 
cise or motion of which are essential to thought ; in 
fact the exercise is thinking, of which thought is the 
result : and as intelligence is a result, it must depend 
upon conditions. The question therefore is, What 
are the conditions ? The first of these we mention is 
the existence of brain. This is found inclosed in the 
cranium, or skull, and forms the most important and 
most largely developed portion of the nervous sys- 
tem, and which is known to be the seat of the intel- 
lect as well as of the emotions. It consists of two 
larger portions, the cerebrum and cerebellum, and cer- 
tain smaller parts, situated at the base, from which 
proceed the spinal marrow. There are thirty pairs 
of nerves that spring from the spinal marrow : eight 
from the region of the neck, twelve from that of the 
back, and five from the pelvis, etc. They arise b}'' 
two roots, one from the anterior, and one from the 
posterior column. The fibres of the posterior swell 
out into ganglion before they unite with the ante- 
rior. Sir Charles Bell discovered that by opening the 
spinal canal in a living animal, and dividing the 
roots of the nerves, the parts to which they are 
distributed are deprived of feeling. The limb 
may be pricked or lacerated in any way, without 
the animal manifesting the least feeling or indication 
of suffering, while at the same time the power of 
motion remains. He also found that when the pos- 
terior roots were divided, sensation was destroyed, 
but motion remained. One of Majendie's experi- 
ments is interesting. Availing himself of the fact 
that the introduction of Nux Vomica into the svstem 



THE SPINAL CORD, AND ITS OFFICE. 25 

produces violent spasms, tremors, and rigidity of the 
muscles, he administered it to an animal, after having 
severed the anterior roots of the spinal nerves. The 
consequence was, that while all the muscles whose 
nerves remained entire were thrown into a state of 
violent spasm, those supplied v/ith the nerves whose 
roots had been divided remained unaffected. That 
is, they had no power or faculty of feeling or 
motion. 

THE SPINAL CORD, AND ITS OFFICE. 

The spinal cord then serves to connect the brain, 
which is the common source of sensation and volun- 
tary motion, with all the sensible parts of the body, 
and with the muscles, the instruments of loco- 
motion. 

We may view it in the sense of forming a channel 
of communication from a bundle of nerves running 
from the brain to every part of the system to carry 
impressions or sensations to the brain, and to trans- 
mit others back again from the will — as if all the 
roads and highways in the country should terminate 
in one grand post-road, connecting them with the seat 
of government. For instance : suppose, inadver- 
tently, my hand comes in contact with a hot iron ; 
an impression is immediately transmitted along the 
sensiferous nerves to the spinal column, and through 
that to the brain. The brain takes cognizance of it, 
and feels a painful sensation which the nerves did 
not feel till it reached the brain. To be relieved of 
the pain constitutes the motive for removing the 
hand from contact with the iron. This conclusion 
is reached by the process of thought ; and when 
reached the will is summoned to do its part, and im- 



26 ICEY TO GHCSTISM. 

mediately sends back through the nerves of motion 
its electric agent adapted to contract the muscles as 
though they were in contact with a charged galvanic 
battery ; and through the anterior column of the 
spinal cord to the motific nerves, distributed to the 
muscles which go to the hand. The muscles in- 
stantly obey, and the hand is removed. But 
the whole process occupies only an instant. Here 
are two channels of communication — the one trans- 
mitting the impression by the electricity of the 
nerves to the brain, the other conveying the pur- 
poses of the will by the same agency to the muscles 
necessary to carry them into effect. 

That such is the well-known function of the spinal 
marrow, is proved by the fact that if it is divided at 
any point, that portion of the body, as well as the 
limbs situated below the seat of the injury, will be 
paralyzed,- and all sense and power of motion lost, while 
the parts above the injury will remain unaffected. 
If the division occur high up in the neck, instant 
death ensues. This results from the fact that the 
nerves which go to the diaphragm, and convey to it 
the electric force necessary to carry on breathing, 
are separated from their connection with the brain. 
These nerves leave the spine as high as the third ver- 
Jebra of the neck. This proves that all sensation and 
all voluntary motion depend upon the brain. If the 
medulla oblongata is injured, breathing immediately 
ceases. If the spinal marrow is severed opposite the 
second hone of the neck, death also speedily follows, 
because the nerves of respiration are cut off from their 
connection with the part above. If the spinal cord 
be divided as low as the fifth cervical bone, life will 
not be immediately lost, but the breathing will be 



THE SPINAL CORD, AND ITS OFFICE. 2/ 

difficult, because the diaphragm is nearly paralyzed, 
and death soon follows by suffocation. If it be di- 
vided above the first dorsal vertebra, life may be main- 
tained for a considerable time, by the slight action of 
the diaphragm, although the ribs cannot be elevated, 
because the intercostal muscles are rendered para- 
lytic. 

Dr. A. Lee says : " I have seen a man whose spine 
was dislocated in this region live seven or eight 
weeks ; but all sensation and motion were lost in the 
parts below the seat of the injury, while his reason 
and senses were perfect." The same author says : 
" As the heart, ^i^'ig^y larynx, and many of the most 
important organs of the body are supplied with ner- 
vous influence by the eii:;/ith pair of nerves, or par 
Tagi/?fi, shows why it is that a. division of the spinal 
marrow causes death. This question is easily an- 
swered by remembering that one of the functions of 
i\\c. par 7'agu III is to convey to the brain the sense or 
feeling of the want of air, or of respiration (this is 
the appetite for oxygenized and electrified air, the 
spirit stimulus of the animal), and that this stimulus 
reacts upon those parts of the spinal cord which give 
rise to the respiratory nerves of the chest. If this 
communication be cut off, the influence of the brain, 
or the medulla oblongata, cannot be transmitted so 
as to excite those muscles which are employed in 
breathing. 

That such is the result is also shown by dividing 
Xh&par vaguin in the neck, which causes palsy of the 
lungs, and also of the muscles which open the lar- 
ynx ; in consequence of which the top of the wind- 
pipe is immediately closed, and death follows from 
suffocation. Besides, it also prevents transmitting 



28 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

to the medulla oblongata the sense of the want of res- 
piration, and thus also preventing the reaction of 
this part upon the spinal marrow. 

FACTS ESTABLISHED BY PHRENOLOGY. 

Phrenology has established the facts, first, that 
the moral and intellectual faculties are innate. Sec- 
ond, their exercise, or manifestation, depends upon 
organization. Third, that the brain is the organ of 
all the propensities, sentiments, and intellectual 
faculties. Fourth, that the brain is composed of as 
many particular organs as there are propensities, 
sentiments, and faculties, which essentially differ 
from each other. Dr. Lee says : " These four propo- 
sitions may be said to constitute the phrenological 
doctrine ; and they are sustained by such numerous 
experiments, observations, and facts, that a large 
proportion of enlightened physiologists of the .pres- 
ent day acquiesce in their correctness." * And we 
may remark that his book was published in 1843 ; 
since which time phrenological investigation has been 
such that not a physiologist probably can be found 
who doubts its truthfulness. The Doctor also says : 
" The brain, like all the organs of the senses, is 
double : the one side, as in the eyes, ears, and limbs, 
being exactly similar to the other ; so that it may be 
said that we have two brains^ as well as two optic nerves 
and two eyes. 

' ' As the structure of the brain x's, fibrous (that is, com- 
posed of fine threads), in order that the two sets of 
nerves may co-operate, and constitute a single organ, 
they pass obliquely across from one side of the brain 

* Lee's Physiology, p. 130. 



THE BRAIN DOUBLE ; BUT MIND A UNIT. 29 

to the other, and these />n't/j;cs constitute what are 
called commissures of the brain (a place where two 
parts meet and unite). It follows from this, that if 
the right side of the brain receives an injury, it will 
be felt on the opposite side of the body. The follow- 
ing case proves this : A piece of wire pierced the 
brain of a boy just over the n'g/it eye. He immedi- 
ately lost all motion in the left arm and leg, al- 
though his sense of feeling was as perfect as ever. 
There are many such cases on record, which conclu- 
sively show that the right side of the brain furnishes 
the nerves of sense and motion to the left side of the 
body, and the left side of the brain to the right 
side." 

THE BRAIN DOUBLE ; BUT HIHD A UIIIT. 

We may add that it is these commissures or unions 
of crossing which make thought or mind a unit, 
while both brains are in active working order, and 
which continues such when the brain is dead to mo- 
tion, and also to feeling, as experiments prove. 
If, then, a portion or the whole of the brain is lost by 
a wound on one side of the head only, as has hap- 
pened, and the intellect does not suffer, it does not 
prove that it is not the organic mental faculty, as 
the brain is a double organ, or two brains — or, in 
other words, two sets of mental faculties. The wisdom 
of the Maker is manifest in thus giving man two chan- 
ces in the preservation of his intellect, and through 
it the exercise of his moral faculties. 

Dr. Abercrombie mentions a case of the disease of 
the brain in which the entire right lobe had been de- 
stroyed by suppuration, and without impairing the 
intellect. 



30 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 



INTELLECT DEPENDS OH BRAIE. 

He cites the instance to prove that the intellect may 
exist independent of the brain ; but to prove this it 
would be necessary to produce a case where both the 
right and left brains had thus suffered destruction 
without impairing the intellect. If the whole brain 
were essential to the existence of a single intellec- 
tual faculty — say that of sight — then the wounding 
or destruction of any part would involve that of the 
whole, as well as that the employment of a single 
organ would be impossible without that of the whole. 
"It is a well-established fact in physiology, that 
different functions are never performed by the same 
organ, but that each has an organ for itself. Thus 
the eyes see ; the ears hear ; the tongue tastes ; the 
nose smells ; the stomach digests food ; the contrac- 
tions and expansions of the heart circulate the 
blood ; the liver secretes bile, etc. Even where the 
function is compound, as in the tongue, where feel- 
ing, taste, and motion are combined, we find a sepa- 
rate nerve for each function ; and the same occurs in 
every part of the body. Now, as no nerve performs 
two functions, reasoning from analogy, we must con- 
clude that it is the same with the brain, their source ; 
that different sentiments, different faculties, and 
different propensities require for their existence 
different organs, or portions of cerebral matter. The 
external senses also have for their exercise not only 
separate external organs, but as many separate inter- 
nal organs. Hearing, seeing, smelling, etc., each 
requiring a different portion of cerebral substance 
for its exercise, the result is intelligent conceptions 
of external objects. From analogy we must con- 



INTELLECT DEPENDS ON BRAIN. 3 1 

elude also that there are as many cerebral masses, or 
nervous systems, as there are special internal senses 
and particular intellectual and moral faculties. The 
legitimate inference therefore is, that each faculty 
does possess in the brain a nervous organ appropri- 
ated to its production, inasmuch as each sense has its 
particular nervous organ. 

The structure of the brain is not homogeneous, 
but greatly differs in different parts, in composition, 
form, color, consistence, and arrangement. From 
which fact we may ask. What object could there 
have been in all this variety, if the brain acted as 
a whole, and there was but a single intellectual prin- 
ciple or faculty ? Indeed, the difference in structure 
shows that there must be difference in function ; and 
as the brain has been proved to be the mental organ- 
ism, it follows that different portions must be em- 
ployed by the intellectual and moral faculties. In 
fact, the mental faculties must act before the moral 
faculties can, as the last is the result of the first. 
For example, it could not be known whether the 
hand was in contact with a hot iron or a downy pil- 
low until a sensitive nerve conveyed a vibration to 
the brain ; and not then, until the mind had reached 
the conclusion by comparison as to which it was, 
and whether it was necessary to move the hand from 
it or not. If it was the pillow, not ; but if the iron, 
then to remove it. And there was no intelligence 
until all these faculties had thus acted. If the sense 
that the iron was hot was in the hand as well as the 
power to move it, then there was no necessity for 
the sensiferous nerves connecting it with the brain, 
or for the existence of the brain itself. It was how- 
ever no idea of temperature or quality of substance, 



32 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

but an electric vibration of a fact that something was 
felt or touched by the hand. 

ORGAHS OF SEHSE IHDISPEKSABLE TO TIIOUGST. 

That we may see the force of this argument in its 
relation to human intelligence, let us suppose that all 
the sensific nerves covering the surface of the body, 
including those of seeing, hearing, smelling, and 
tasting, should suddenly become paralyzed : the re- 
sult would be that another such vibration from any 
external object would never be injected into the 
mind, and which is essential to give rise to thought 
concerning it ; that mind therefore could never 
obtain another thought, as thought is the res j It of 
thinking, and thinking the result of the external 
object impelled into it through one of the channels 
of external sense ; and these are forever closed. 

But let us carry the supposition one step further — 
that this human being minus all the organs of exter- 
nal sense had been thus born, the result would have 
been that he would never have had an idea or the 
least possible intelligence or power of voluntary mo- 
tion. If nourishment had been forced down his 
throat, the stomach would have digested it, and hav- 
ing all the vital organs he would have, lived ; but 
he would have had no more mind, though having a 
perfect brain, than a tree. 

In order to make the argument still more appre- 
ciable, we will suppose that the individual of our 
illustration was Adam, the progenitor of our species, 
and that he was made a perfect man in every respect, 
with the exception that he had no external organs of 
sense. Do we not see that he would have remained 
a perfect idiot, utterly devoid of even as much in- 



FIRST THOUGHT OF THE FH-IST MAN. 33 

telligence as the most insignificant insect that has 
the power of voluntary motion ? In fact, it would not 
have made the result of the impossibility of thought 
any more certain if the brain also had been left out 
of his cranium. He might have lived even without 
the cerebral brain, as perfect idiots have none ; and 
neither have they the power of self-motion. 

The division of the objectiv.e world is in accord- 
ance with the human external senses. Light and color 
belong to sight. All the varieties of sound produced 
by organic, artistic, or material motion belong to 
hearing. All the varieties of scent or odor belong to 
smell. All those of flavor belong to taste ; and all 
the varieties of temperature, solidity, roughness, or 
moisture belong to feeling. This leaves not a thing 
in the world, or of it, which may not be conveyed to 
the seat of reason by one of the five senses ; showing 
also that if a man was endowed with another organ 
of sense there would be nothing for it to do, and 
that it could not add to human intelligence. These 
senses come in contact with the palpable world and 
convey to the brain all the peculiarities they possess. 
The brain takes cognizance of these, and by their 
action arrives at conclusions as to the nature of the 
difference each thing manifests, tracing their rela- 
tions, uses, and causes ; thus obtaining and accumu- 
lating knowledge. 

HOW CAME THE FIRST THOUGHT OF THE FIRST MAN ? 

To still further illustrate this important part of our 
subject, let us suppose that when Adam first opened 
his eyes he saw an apple-tree and a peach-tree, loaded 
with ripe fruit ; and there having been planted with- 
in his organization a feeling of hunger, the appetite 



34 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

for food, he desired to partake of something which 
would appease it. But, as the tree did not move 
toward him, he tried his legs, and found them to be 
instruments of locomotion ; so he advanced to the 
tree. The fruit, however, not falling into his mouth, 
he tried his arms and hands, and found them capable 
of meeting the necessity ; and he plucked an apple 
and a peach. The touch of each conveyed different 
impulses to his brain — the touch simply communicat- 
ing corresponding notions of the smoothness and 
roughness they possessed. This motion is the think- 
ing process, as we shall hereafter show. By this 
thinking, or comparison, he arrives at the conclusion 
that these are different kinds of fruit, both in size and 
roughness ; and now he has his first two ideas. 

The comparison is continued upon other of the 
peculiarities of these injected into the seat of reason 
by the other organs of sense. He smells them, and 
perceives they have different odors, and has another 
thought. He submits them to taste, and has an- 
other. He chews them, and receives another thought 
regarding the use of his teeth. He swallows them, 
and increases his intelligence by discovering the use 
of his throat. The food now in his stomach gives 
pleasurable sensations, and appeases the painful 
one of hunger. He is therefore thus far an intelli- 
gent being. Is it not certain that if he had been 
deprived of these four organs of external sense, that 
his mind could not have had one of these ideas, or 
thoughts ? 

But in all this mental operation the sense of hear- 
ing has had nothing to do, and has therefore added 
nothing to the knowledge thus obtained. Now, how- 
ever, he meets Eve, who, looking so much like him- 



ANI.MAL LIFE ESSENTIAL TO THOUGHT. 35 

self, he supposes she possesses the same appetites, and 
communicates to her the intelligence respecting the 
fruit by speech ; and the sound of his own voice 
communicated tlirough the auditory nerves the use 
of his ears, and he has the first idea derived by the 
aid of the sense of hearing, and the first thought 
derived from this department of his mind. 

It should be remarked that the functions of the 
external organic senses and those of the brain are 
so distinct from each other, that neither can do the 
least part of the work of the other. The brain could 
not touch or see the apple or peach, or distinguish 
any of their peculiarities. Nor could it have com- 
municated its knowledge to the mind of Eve, Iinow 
ing nothing of their existence, until the organs of 
sense had thus acted. Neither could these organs 
have had the least intelligence in and of themselves ; 
for if they could, man would have been intelligent 
without brains. 

ANIMAL LIFE ESSENTIAL TO THOUGHT. 

Now suppose Adam had died before any one of these 
senses had thus acted, would he have ever had the 
least intelligence ? It might just as well be contended 
that he would have been intelligent if he had never 
lived at all. If, then, the disuse, obstruction, or 
paralysis of either the brain or the external organs of 
sense renders the commencement or continuance of 
thought impossible, how preposterous the suppo- 
sition that these exist when the whole organic man is 
resolved back again into the chemical elements out 
of which he was formed ! or, more preposterous still, 
that his intelligence existed before he was made or 
born — we speak of human intelligence. 



36 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

The true definition, therefore, of the human mind 
is, that it comprehends the active existence of at 
least one of the five senses, with its communicating 
nerves to the brain, unimpaired or obstructed by dis- 
ease ; and the brain also in the same condition — at 
least, that department of it which connects with such 
external sense. This conclusion is as logical as that 
that which is essential to the existence of a phenom- 
enon is an integral part of that phenomenon itself. 
All these faculties are therefore so many conditions 
upon which the phenomena of intelligence depend ; 
this being simply the ultimate effect of the appara- 
tus ; or, in other v/ords, of the operation of the physi- 
ological machine of God's handiwork. 

That the so-called external senses are essential 
parts of the thinking apparatus, is demonstrated by 
the fact that they convey no impressions or motions 
to the brain when it is asleep, nor is the brain in the 
least conscious of any thing with which the senses may 
be brought in contact while sleeping. And we may 
also remark, that it is the mental voluntary depart- 
ment of the man that has its nightly sleeps, and not 
the involuntary body. We shall, however, recur to 
this idea. 

HUXLEY AND T:YIIDALL'S DEFIKITIOK OF LIFE. 

Another condition of intelligence is the existence of 
life. In giving us his definition of evolution Professor 
Huxley also gives his opinion of where life is to be 
found, or whence it originated, as follows : " The 
hypothesis of evolution supposes that in any given 
period in the past we should meet with a state of 
things more or less similar to those of the present, 
but less similar in proportion as we go back in time ; 



DEFINITION OF LIFE. 37 

that the physical form of the earth could be traced 
back in this way to a condition in which its parts 
were separated as little more than a nebulous cloud 
making part of a whole in which we find the sun 
and the other planetary bodies also resolved ; and 
that if we trace the animal world and the vegetable 
world far enough back, we should find preceding 
what now exists animals and plants not identical 
with them, but like them, only increasing their differ- 
ences as we go back in time, and at the same time 
becoming simpler and simpler until finally we should 
arrive at that gelatinous mass which, so far as our 
present knowledge goes, is the common foundation 
of all life. The tendency of science is to justify the 
speculation that that also could be traced further 
back, perhaps to the general nebulous origin of mat- 
ter." — Tribune Extra, p. 16. 

Upon the same subject Professor Tyndall, in his Bel- 
fast speech, said : " There was also physical life ask- 
ing for a solution. How are the different grades and 
orders of mind to be accounted for ? What is the 
principle of growth of that mysterious power which 
on our planet culminates in reason ? I discern in 
that matter which we in our ignorance have covered 
with opprobrium, the promise and energy, form and 
equality, of life. The human un'^erstanding itself is 
a result of the play between organism and environ- 
ment through cosmic ranges of time. Here, how- 
ever, I must quit a theme too great for me to handle ; 
but it will be handled by the loftiest minds ages after 
you and I, like streaks of morning cloud, shall have 
melted into the infinite azxircof the past." 



38 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 



SEARCHIKG IH THE WRONG DIRECTIOH FOR LIFE. 

In the search after life, Professor Huxley has carried 
us back in time and space to a supposed condition of 
matter more sublimated than any form existing in 
the solar system, and before any of its organic or in- 
organic elements were in existence, more subtle than 
even electricity ; for this wonderful substance is com- 
posed of the real chemical properties of every thing 
it will decompose — the positives for their negatives, 
and the negatives for their positives — this being the 
law of chemical affinity and dissolution. As this 
nebulous substance is the farthest removed from 
organization, and as life is the result of organization, 
and that too of the most complicated mechanism, 
it is in exactly the opposite direction from that in 
which it exists. It is only equalled by the absurdity 
of searching for life in death and death in life, or- 
ganic forms in disorganization, or existence in non- 
existence ; while we can prove by the common laws 
of physiology — and which are just as well known as 
that animal lungs are essential to breathing, the 
heart to circulation, or the stomach to digestion — 
that animal life follows and results from perfect or- 
ganization, and is incompatible with serious physical 
derangement ; and that man and all other animals 
are machines of more or less intelligence and power, 
including every organic thing possessed of voluntary 
motion, the least of which are as much higher in the 
comparative scale of existences than any thing man 
can make as he is higher than his highest piece of 
workmanship : and, reasoning from analogy, there 
must be as great a difference and superiority between 
the Being who made him as that between him and 
the highest thing he himself can make. 



NO BEING ABLE TO COMPREHEND HIMSELF. 39 

This definition involves no incongruity whatever, 
nor any other mystery than that which grows out of 
incomprehension, the principle of which we may 
state as follows. 

KO BEING IS ABLE TO CCMPREHEIID HIMSELF. 
No being is able to comprehend himself or to un- 
derstand the powers and capacities of the mechanism 
involved in his own organic nature. Neither is he 
capable of comprehending those involved in any 
machine greater or higher than that which he him- 
self can make, when given time enough to learn the 
use of tools. For example, a man conceives all the 
mechanical principles, parts, and adaptations involved 
in a locomotive engine, and makes it ; and he must 
conceive and comprehend all these, or he cannot 
make them. Now suppose the machine involves the 
greatest and most complicated piece of mechanism 
which he is capable to conceive and make, and here 
we have the limit of his capacity. This machine is 
just as capable of comprehending the capacities and 
powers of its maker, as the machine man is of com- 
prehending those of God, his Maker ; and it is just 
as absurd for the locomotive to say it was not made 
by the mechanic man, as for the machine wan to say 
he was not made by some mechanic able to do the 
work. What would be thought of the locomotive if 
it should declare that no material organization was 
capable of doing the wonderful things it manifests, 
and therefore there must be some inorganic thing re- 
siding in it, independent of the organization, capable 
of putting it in operation, and to whose skill and 
power all these wonders of manifestation are to be 
attributed ; and that after the machine is worn out 



40 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

its capacities and powers are as capacious and un- 
diminished as ever ? 

Here we see the poor silly locomotive, not being 
able to comprehend itself, add to itself another creat- 
ure of knowledge and power, making in the compli- 
cation two instead of one, and in the same degree 
rendering itself so much more incomprehensible to 
itself. Instead of coming to such a conclusion, it 
should have reasoned thus : Here are certain powers 
of which I see the results, and these results depend 
upon organization, for any serious disarrangement of 
this prevents the results ; and as I do not understand 
the organic mechanism, it may be capable of pro- 
ducing all the manifestations witnessed, and which I 
would know if I were its maker. If it is difficult for 
me to comprehend all the powers and phenomena 
manifested by the organized locomotive, how much 
more so to comprehend the persistence of all these 
results when the machine is disorganized, the cylinder 
smashed, the piston-rod broken, the valves all rusted 
away, and the boiler exploded ! 

In view of such reflections we appeal to the more 
complicated machine, man, whether it would not be 
the dictate of wisdom and common-sense to take a 
lesson from the more modest and unpretending 
machine, and by analogy learn to be more philo- 
sophic, scientific, and reasonable, and to distrust our 
own opinion ? 

THE PRIHCIPLE APPLIED TO EYOLUTIOHISTS AND 
SPIRITUALISTS. 

It is easy to see that the Evolutionists and Spiritu- 
alists agree in holding to the Platonic doctrine, that 
the life of man existed before man himself — before 



ESSAYS ON THE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING. 4I 

his organization. Being therefore independent, it 
will exist after the organization is decomposed. It is 
not that this was God, if He be defined as a personal, 
intelligent Being, as taught in the Bible and required 
by nature, and which no one doubts who understands 
cither of these sources of information ; but that each 
human being had his prior existing cntit)\ and which 
produced the living organization. 

We have shown that human intelligence is the re- 
sult of organic mind, just as power is the result of 
the steam-boiler and engine ; and that the mental de- 
partment has no vital or living organs, and therefore 
does not, never did, and cannot live ; and that it re- 
ceives its power to think from the living organism of 
the involuntary department, just as an engine re- 
ceives steam from the boiler, impelling the machinery; 
the result of which is thought in the first instance, 
and steam-power in the second. 

JOHN LOCKE'S "ESSAYS ON THE HUMAN UNDERSTAND- 
ING." 

Upon this subject we quote the following from 
the celebrated John Locke's Essays on the Hitman 
Understanding: "We have the ideas of matter 
and thinking, but possibly shall never be able to 
know whether any mere material being thinks or not. 
It being in respect to our notions not much more re- 
mote from our comprehension to conceive that God 
can, if He pleases, superadd to matter a faculty of 
thinking, than that He should superadd to it another 
substance of thinking ; since we know not whence 
thinking consists, nor to what sort of substance the 
Almighty has been pleased to give that power ; for I 
see no contradiction in it that the first eternal think- 



42 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

ing being should, if he pleased, give to certain sys- 
tems of created senseless matter, put together as he 
thinks fit, sense, perception, and thought." 

The only weakness we see in this reasoning is the 
intimation that although the thinking principle may 
be matter, yet it may be an element and not an or- 
ganization ; the latter of which is far less remote to 
our comprehension than the former, as all the analo- 
gies of being demonstrate. How much easier, for 
example, to conceive steam-power as resulting from 
the whole mechanism of the locomotive, than that it 
should have another element in it of which we know 
absolutely nothing, and yet from v/hich the power 
originates ; and besides, were such the fact, we could 
have steam - power without the engine. But this 
great mental philosopher has approximated the near- 
est to the comprehension of the human mind, and 
sees the necessity of its being organic ; and we may 
add that if we cannot comprehend the faculty of an 
organized mind to think, how much less one that is 
inorganic ? for the mind manifests power ; power is 
matter in motion — a material organic mind can set it 
in motion, as the limbs of the body are moved, pro- 
ducing its locomotion, which, if resisted, manifests 
the degree of power with which it moves ; but an 
immaterial substance, supposing there is such an ex- 
istence, is utterly incapable of producing the least 
effect upon a single organ of the animal body. 

MATERIALITY AHD IMMATERIALITY COHTRASTED. 

If we would have a proper scientific view of the 
doctrine of materiality and immateriality, it must be 
obtained by natural contrasts ; for, in this world, 
what matter is, immateriality is not. For instance : 



THOUGHT DOES NOT TRAVEL. 43 

Materiality has properties and conditions ; imma- 
tcrialiry has none. Materiality occupies space ; im- 
materiality does not. Materiality may move and 
be moved ; immateriality cannot. Materiality has 
weight; immateriality has none. Materiality may be 
an agent, or medium, to move other forms of mat- 
ter ; but immateriality cannot be. Matter is suscep- 
tible of organization ; immateriality is not. Materi- 
ality may be employed as the mind's agent to move 
other matter, such as the limbs of the body ; imma- 
teriality cannot be. Materiality has chemical prop- 
erties ; immateriality has none. Materiality may be 
organized ; immateriality cannot be. In a word, ma- 
teriality is something and immateriality is nothing. 
Materiality is existence ; immateriality is non-exist- 
ence. It is not annihilation, for this supposes the 
prior existence of the things it reduces to nothing. 
If God is immateriality, He fills no part of space, and 
therefore does not exist. A square inch of empty 
space is a square inch of immateriality. An imma- 
terialist is worse than an annihilationist, as the lat- 
ter only strikes those things out of existence to which 
he applies the term, while the former declares that 
immaterialisms never had an existence. If, therefore, 
the soul, spirit, angels, and God are immateriality, 
they do not exist and never did. Jesus Christ is a 
material being, and He is the Christian's God. 

TH0U3HT DOES NOT TRAVEL. 

In answer to this it is said, Thought is not matter, 
and it exists. But thought is not a thing that moves ; 
it is only an idea of a thing — a conception — and a 
conception cannot travel. In proof that thought 
does not travel we heivc the fact that whatever travels 



44 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

occupies time in travelling, and can go a short jour- 
ney sooner than a long one ; but to think about the 
farthest fixed star consumes no longer time than to 
think about a thing in your hand. It might just as 
well be said that sight travels, while the fact is you 
can see, on opening your eyes, the sun ninety-five mil- 
lions of miles distant, in the same time as the candle 
in your hand. All such attempts are mere sophisms, 
either honestly or superficially employed to bolster 
up this erroneous speculation in palpable contradic- 
tion to true science, philosophy, and the Bible. No ; 
thought is something recieved by the mind after a 
mental process, and does not go on journeys from it. 

REY. JOHN WESLEY OK THE RELATIOHS OF BRAIH AED 
THOUGHT. 

Upon the relations of brain and thought Mr. John 
Wesley gives us the following : " The organs of the 
brain very frequently hinder the soul in its opera- 
tions, and at best serve it very imperfectly ; yet it 
cannot dispense with its service : an embodied spirit 
cannot form one thought, but by the mediation of its 
bodily organs ; for thinking is not, as many suppose, 
the act of a pure spirit, but the act of a spirit con- 
nected with a bod)^ and playing upon a set of mate- 
rial keys. It cannot therefore possibly make any 
better music than the nature and state of its instru- 
ments allow it. Hence every disorder of the body, 
especially of the parts more immediately subservient 
to thinking, lay an almost insuperable bar in the 
way of thinking justly." — Wesley s Sermons, p. 34, 
vol. ii. 

Here is a great man, a good man, a Christian, and 
whom some of his followers, the Methodists, would 



BISHOP FOSTER'S BELIEF. 45 

brand as a materialist because he taught that a pure 
spirit (not connected with a body) could not think, 
and without the bodily organs could not form a single 
thought, and therefore must cease to be intelligent 
at the dissolution of the body, and which must so 
remain until the reorganization of the body by the 
resurrection of the dead. 

MH. V/ESLEY'S BELIEF. 

If Mr. Wesley was consistent with himself in his 
teaching, he must also teach that the unthinking 
spirit, or soul (words which he uses interchangeably) 
did not go to heaven at death ; and this is exactly 
what he did teach. Upon this point hear his explicit 
declaration : "It is indeed very generally supposed 
that the souls of good men, as soon as they are dis- 
charged from the body, go directly to heaven ; but 
this opinion has not the least foundation in the ora- 
cles of God." — Sermons, p. 416, vol. ii. 

BISHOP FOSTER'S BELIEF. 

We might also quote Bishop Foster, one of the 
present bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
and certainly one of the most talented, who was 
President of the Drew University before being made 
bishop, and who publicly preaches against the heathen 
doctrine of the immortal soul, and, with Mr. Wesley, 
of going to heaven at death, or that there is any 
future hope for man, except in the resurrection of tlic 
dead at the last day. 

LUTHER DID NOT BELIEVE THE SOUL IMMORTAL. 

We might also quote Luther as denouncing the 
Papal doctrine of the immortality of the soul as 
" one of the dunghill decretals of the Pope ;" and 



46 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

not in all his writings can be found the dogma that a 
saint goes to heaven, or a sinner to hell, at death ; 
or that there is any reward or punishment until the 
general resurrection and judgment at the last day. 

Here we have the opinions of the two greatest bib- 
lical scholars and reformers of the world, and which 
the spiritualistic sentiment of the present day de- 
nounces as materialism. Indeed, it is materialism to 
worship the Lord Jesus Christ, who, after His resurrec- 
tion to immortality — the spiritual embodiment of the 
Godhead — declared, " I am ;/<?/ a spirit : for a spirit 
hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have ;" and, 
seeing whom, Thomas exclaimed, " My Lord and my 
God J" 

CHRIST IS A MATERIAL BEIMG, 
And is ths Lord God of Cliristian. -worship. 
We ask no higher honor than to join this apostle 
in giving this our Lord "the honor due unto His 
name." We remember also that before the shrine of 
this first-begotten Son of the Highest all the angels 
of heaven bow and worship. " When He bringeth 
in the first-begotten into the world, He saith, And let 
all the angels of God worship Him" (Heb. i : 6). 
Here, therefore, "when the world by wisdom knew 
not God," He came to it and invested Himself with a 
human, material, mortal body, which Gabriel inter- 
preted to be " Immatiuel ; God with iis.'" This same 
body was made immortal in the resurrection, com- 
posed of flesh and bones, and was not a spirit or 
ghost ; and the promise to the saints is, " that as 
they have borne the image of the first man Adam 
(who transmitted death to his posterity), we shall 
also bear the image of the second Adam, the Lord 
from heaven, when He comes the second time ; who 



JOSEPH COOK AND WESLEY. ^7 

shall change our vile body, and fashion it like unto 
His glorious body. Not to make ghosts of us, as the 
heathen philosophers taught, but redeemed men, to 
reign with Him eternally in the "world to come," 
" the New Heaven and*New Earth." As Jesus said, 
" He that shall be accounted worthy to obtain that 
ivorlit, and the resurrection from the dead, neither 
can they die any more." 

This is the materialism in which we believe ; and 
if it is error, these are our answers. If others prefer 
to adopt the ghostly future state of heathens and 
spiritualists, and be immaterialized or reduced to 
ghosts, a hundred thousand of which might stand 
upon the point of a cambric needle, and all the space 
be left, let them ; but we are one of those who say, 
" I pray thee have me excused." 

JOSEPH COOK AND WESLEY, 
His Uns2ientifi3 Eoctrine. 
Mr. Joseph Cook, of Boston, seizes upon this brain- 
key illustration of Mr. Wesley, but uses it for the 
spurious purpose of proving the magical doctrine of 
the pre-existence of souls taught by Plato. He 
holds that there is an intelligent being residing in a 
man's head, and no more confounded with or is a 
part of the brain, as the organs of the mind, than a 
player on the keys of a piano is a part of the piano 
itself ; but that just as the musician plays upon the 
keys of the instrument, so this inhabitant of. the head 
plays upon the organs of the brain ; and that this 
creature was in possession of all the thoughts and 
all the intelligence the man will ever have, dispens- 
ing it as human knowledge by playing upon brain 
keys, just as the musician dispenses music by play- 



48 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

ing upon the keys of the piano, or as the Spiritualists 
denominate it, " the spirit uses tlie organs of the 
man, as those of speech, by which to make its reve- 
lations ;" but if the human organic keys are in any 
wise deranged or disorganized, in the same degree 
will the intelligence be vague or lunatic, just as the 
music of the instrument will be discordant if the 
strings are out of tune. Here, however, the analogy 
ceases ; for while all music is impossible upon an 
instrument with every string broken, and the whole 
thrown into a state of disorganization, as those of 
the dead are, yet tliis complete disorganization of 
the organic brain and of the whole man only re- 
leases the player and qualifies him to discourse more 
beautiful music — higher and more profound thought ; 
so that the want of rational thought is no more to be 
attributed to the intelligent being who sits back of 
the brain than the bad music is to the player who 
attempts to perform upon a piano the strings of 
which are all out of tune or broken. 

The error of this hypothesis is easily shown by the 
conclusions which it necessitates, some of which are 
as follows : 

Fhst. This inward being did not obtain its knowl- 
edge from or through the medium of the organic 
brain, but only dispenses it as its own thoughts to 
the man himself, and through his bodily instruments 
to others, as best it could through the service of so 
poorly-made instruments. 

Secondly. If this intelligent tenant of man's head did 
not receive his knowledge through the brain or organ- 
ic senses, he must have possessed it before he took pos- 
session of this house. This is the doctrine of Plato. 

TJiirdly. That human intelligence is not the result 



JOSEPH COOK PERVERTS WESLEY. 49 

of learning from books or outward sources, in which 
case the five senses and the brain might not have 
existed at all, as these could not think, and therefore 
could convey no thought to thinking spirit or soul, 
or call it what you will. He has all the knowledge, 
and by playing on the brain-keys with his fingers lets 
it out to the man himself, and through him to others, 
• by the organs of speech, writing, or signs ; and if he 
were dumb and never had heard at all, he could write 
about sound and music just as well, for his music 
teacher within knew all about the art, and had the 
brain to play on, to give the man appreciable thoughts 
of music ; and having the organs of speech — being 
entirely independent of his ears or auditory nerves — 
he could sing or speak equally as well as though he 
liad always heard. 

If this doctrine is true, then there need never have 
been any books, schools, or teachers, as the intelligent 
spirit does not receive thoughts through material 
organs, which are incapable of formmg any, but only 
plays upon the organic keys to convey its own 
thoughts originating from within, first to the man, 
and through his bodily organization to society. And 
even this does not make society any more intelli- 
gent ; for each of its members has his knowing creat- 
ure and instructor in his own head, but who cannot 
receive any thought from the outward world, as 
these must be formed before they can be communi- 
cated to the intelligent resident of the head ; and 
as the material organism is incapable of thinking, 
therefore all outward teaching is absolutely impos- 
sible. 

This again gives us the result that all human 
knowledge was in possession of these creatures before 



50 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

they entered the brain of mankind, and being ab- 
stract and independent of the human organization, 
existed before, and will survive its dissolution, and 
remain as intelligent as before. 

MAH RELIEVED OF ALL MORAL RESPOKSIBILITY. 

Fourthly. From such a condition of being it also 
follows that the man is not only not responsible for 
his ignorance, as it was only the natural weakness or 
derangement of the organic brain which prevented 
his knowing resident from dispensing the instruction 
it possessed. The man is equally irresponsible for 
his moral conduct, and for the same reason, namely, 
that of the weakness of the moral organs of the brain. 
Suppose those of the lowest passions to be very 
largely developed in an individual, the play upon 
which would cause the man to become a drunkard, 
to rob and murder. Cannot any one see that the 
man was not to blame for this character and these 
acts ; but that the responsibility rests as wholly upon 
the individual who played upon such bad keys as the 
bad music was the work of the player upon an un- 
tuned musical instrument ? The inward gentleman 
had no business to play on such bad organs of the 
brain. He is therefore the guilty culprit, and not the 
man ; and it is as great a piece of ignorant presump- 
tion to punish the man who is the mere instrument, 
and who is thus forced to act, as to hold the untuned, 
stringed instrument responsible for the bad music 
the player makes. No ; it is the player who is the 
sinner in both instances. 

It is to be hoped that the microscopical and surgical 
arts will soon reach such a degree of perfection as 
will enable us to remove the skull, detect and bring 



MAN RELIEVED OF MORAL RESPONSIBILITV. 5 I 

out these impious and vicious wretches, and admin- 
ister to them due punishment for their bad deeds and 
reward them for their good ones ; for nothing can 
be more cruel than the infliction of punishment upon 
human beings for their apparent bad deeds, or honor 
them for good ones, because being nothing but in- 
struments />/nycd 7i/>ofi, of which these are the manifes- 
tations. For the same reasons no man should be 
reflected upon for his ignorance or esteemed for his 
knowledge. 

Now as human intelligence is the result of organi- 
zation, the demonstration of which is the fact that 
there never would have been any if there never had 
existed a man, it must depend upon conditions ; and 
supposing the conditions to be the existence of this 
other intelligent being residing in the brain of man, 
which we have been considering ; and as we have 
also found the existence of brain and the organic 
senses to be essential to its manifestation and its re- 
ception, it follows that this second knowing resident 
must also be endowed with similar organs by which 
he himself is rendered capable of communicating his 
intelligence to man, and also through which he has 
himself become intelligent, or able to form thoughts. 
But as these organizations are only instruments, also 
composed of brain or its equivalents, and organs of 
sense — it is immaterial of what substance they may 
be made— this second sentient being must also con- 
tain within his organs, or presiding over them — all 
of which are his instruments of manifestation — 
another just such sentient being ; and for the same 
reasons, this third creature or spirit must contain a 
fourth, and so on. It is evident we can never arrive 
at the original ; and until we can find him we shall 



52 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

never find the source of responsibility for all or any 
of the sin or ignorance of mankind. Every thing is 
instrumental, and moved by inherent fatality. 

In such a search after the original source of knowl- 
edge and responsibility, these adopt the course sug- 
gested by the answer the old lady gave her inquisi- 
tive grandson, who asked what the world stood on. 
The reply was, "A big rock." Not exactly satisfied, 
he asked, " What does that rock stand on ?" " An- 
other rock," was the answer. Still not getting to 
the bottom of the question, he asked again, " Well, 
what does that rock stand on ?" The lady, seeing 
the folly of her first answer, shifted it to the boy, by 
the adroit reply, " Why, how dull you are ! Rocks 
all the way down. ' ' 

This living knowing creature in man's brain must 
be either materiality or immateriality. If the latter, 
he can no more play upon its material keys, which 
implies their motion, than no matter or immateri- 
ality can move matter, or nothing move something. 
It is readily admitted that such a " nothingarian" 
may dwell in a man's brain, even a million of them, 
and yet not occupy a particle of its space, and produce 
no possible effect upon its health or operations ; but 
if he is materiality, there is no possible room for him 
to reside ; and it matters not how ethereal are his 
organs, if forced into it, it would wedge the whole 
brain, whether as the mental or vital organs, and 
cause instant death or idiocy. What can be more 
preposterous than the notion that such a myth, too 
small or sublimated to be seen by the most powerful 
microscope, has the faculty of producing all the 
power man manifests, and of possessing all his knowl- 
edge before he conveyed it to the man himself ? 



WHICH? 53 

Here we see that all attempts to involve another 
intelligent being in man, in order to account for his 
intelligence, upon any other principle than that it is 
the result of his physical organization, only shifts the 
conclusion from that of being the result of one or- 
ganization to that of its being the result of two just 
such organizations, of which the second (the man) is 
only the instrument, the fundamental principle being 
that material organization is indispensable to think- 
ing, of which thought is the result. 

WHICH ? 

Could not God make a Thinking Machine (such as 
man) out of Matter, easier than out of nothing, or 
Immateriality ? 

To question this also involves the arrogance and 
presumption that the Being who made something 
capable of thinking could not have made such a one 
out of matter ; just as though the notion that He 
could make a thinking being out of no matter, which 
is immateriality, simplified the work, or brought it 
any nearer human comprehension. Man can make 
machines capable of wonderful power out of matter. 
Is it any more wonderful that God can make 
machines also out of matter, capable of the wonder- 
ful phenomena of thinking? God is certainly as 
much greater than the thinking machine man, than 
he is greater than the most complicated machine the 
man himself can make ; and if a man could make a 
greater machine out of no matter than out of matter, 
then we might have grounds upon which to reason 
that God made His greatest machines — and there- 
fore those capable of intelligence— out of no matter. 
But when man cannot make the least thing out of 



54 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

nothing, or have the remotest conception that God 
could do it, how can he conclude otherwise than that 
the material organization of man results in thinking, 
when all his known analogies are also in its favor, 
and in the same degree repugnant to the opposite 
view ? 

That the thinking principle is not organization, 
and that it produces the organization, implies also 
the absurdity that the inorganic materials — for in- 
stance, of a steam-engine — have the faculty of orga- 
nizing the engine itself ; and not only so, but that 
of organizing a thing of life and intelligence ; and 
that this creator dwells in each man's organization, 
but is no part of that organization. 

THOUGHT THE RESULT OF ORGAHIZATIOH. 

That thought is the result of organization may also 
be established by that of its own nature. Thought 
is the result of thinking, and therefore involves an 
operation ; and an operation involves motion, and 
motion the existence of matter moving. Either thought 
is the result of a single substance, whether material 
or spiritual, or it is that of organization, which, in 
its simplest form, is composed of two substances of 
different chemical endowment or construction. If 
the spiritual substance is not susceptible of variety 
of chemical properties, or of peculiar shapes, as the 
difference between the retina of the eye and the ear, 
or its auditory nerves, then it is not susceptible of or- 
ganization ; and if it is thus susceptible it is only 
another form of matter. The question therefore is. 
Does the production of thought involve more parts 
than a single, simple substance ? If it does, then it 
is organic, and not inorganic or homogeneous. 



THOUGHT TIIK RESULT OF ORGANIZATION. 55 

To illustrate this principle let us place two objects 
before the eye — say an apple and a potato. The 
images of both are instantly struck upon the retina, 
which is the expansion of the optic nerve, and which 
would be equally the case if the man was dead, pro- 
vided the eyelids were open. Hence it is not the eye 
that sees, although essential to sight. The inward 
faculty of perception now deals with these two ob- 
jects ; but it can only look at one at a time, no mat- 
ter how near they may be placed to each other ; and 
this shows it to be a single faculty. Here we have 
two faculties involved in the operation of this 
thought — the retina and perception. But if there 
were no other faculties the thinking would end here, 
and no thought would exist. Now, however, com- 
parison commences, and investigates the nature of 
the difference between these objects. But compari- 
son involves the existence and function of two more 
organs, or one that is double. Hence we have four 
organs already operating in the formation of this 
thought, and still it is no thought ; and these last 
o;\ly convey what they see to another power, that of 
judgment. This gives the decision as to the nature 
of the difference between the two objects, and a 
thought is the result. Here therefore we have five 
organs performing five functions, and so related and 
interdepending, that in the absence or decomposition 
by disease of either, the thought would have been 
impossible ; and it will be seen that this conclusion 
is reached entirely outside of the question as to 
whether the substance of this organization is material 
or spiritual, or whatever ideas may be entertained of 
its nature. Hence we see the fallacy of Mr. Cook's 
theory, or that of the Spiritualists, or that of natural 



56 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

immortality. We may just remark that it matters 
not which of the outward organs of sense conveys 
the image of the object to the internal organs, they 
deal with all upon the same principle. 

THE RELATION OF THOUGHT AKD ORGAKISM. 

As still further illustrative of the relation of organ- 
ism and its necessity to thought, we quote the follow- 
ing extracts from a lecture lately delivered by Dr. 
William A. Hammond, Ex-Surgeon-General of the 
United States Army, in Brooklyn : 

" How are we to prove that the mind of man comes 
from his brain ? We are to prove it as we would any 
other scientific principle, by a collection of facts. It 
is a fact that when an organ is overworked it experi- 
ences discomfort. If a man receives a blow on his 
foot, it will injure the faculty of walking ; and if a 
man's brain is injured, you will see it at once in the 
character of his thoughts, or the entire cessation of 
all thought. Strike- a man with a club on the head, 
and he loses consciousness. So it is with disease. 
A man has inflammation of the brain, for instance ; 
he becomes excited, delirious, and oftentimes insane. 
Another striking proof is that when we over-exert an 
organ we do it at the expense of the substance of 
that organ. 

" If you take the muscles from a frog and connect 
them with the wires of a galvanic battery, the muscles 
will contract. When this has been done, weigh the 
muscle, and you will find it much lighter than 
before the attachment was made. This same 
thing is true of man. We can almost always tell 
how much a man has used his brain in twenty- 
four hours by the amount of phosphates (which are 



RELATION OF THOUGHT AND ORGANISM. 57 

the ashes of tlie nervous S3'stem) wasted. I notice 
that some of my clerical friends exhibit more phos- 
phates than those in other callings ; and that the ac- 
cumulation is greater on Monday than on any other 
day, owing to the excessive labor of Sunday, as we 
know that the tissue is worked to produce them. 
The mind of man, all other things being equal, is 
regulated in strength and power by the amount of 
brains he has ; and as a rule the size of a man's brain 
indicates his capacity. The brain of the Caucasian 
weighs fifty ounces, while that of the negro weighs 
fifteen ounces less, and that of the Tartar one half 
less. Going into the animal kingdom, we find that 
the brain of the Chimpanzee or Gorilla is smaller than 
that of the Negro, and the mental capacity of the 
animal is correspondingly smaller. Idiots have very 
small heads. Sometimes their heads seem large, but 
the size is often due to extraneous enlargements. I 
have had occasion to examine many small heads, and 
have found the intellectual development much below 
the standard. In one case the brain weighed only 
twenty-five ounces, although the person was thirty 
years of age, and otherwise perfectly developed ; but 
her intellect was childish, and she came into my con- 
sultation room with a rag baby in her arms, to which 
she paid great attention. 

" There is a boy on Randall's Island who is a good 
illustration. His skull is only sixteen inches in cir- 
cumference, and he does not possess the intelligence 
of a dog. He knows the value of money so far that 
if you give him a penny he will buy a cake or an 
apple ; but I have seen dogs who knew the value of 
money to this degree. 

" There is one other proof. When you cut off the 



58 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

connection between the brain and the central nervous 
system, you at once prevent the mandates of the will 
from passing to that point. You might as well cut 
the telegraph wire that derives its power from the 
battery and expect to send a communication. When' 
we divide the wire (nerves) that connects the brain 
with the several organs, we divest those organs of 
their power, and they cease to perform their func- 
tion. I say the central nervous system, because the 
mind does not all reside in the brain ; but a portion 
of it resides in the spinal cord. If T knock a man on 
the head or put a bullet through his brain, and he 
becomes senseless, he lays stretched on the floor and 
does not see or hear ; but if I tickle the sole of his 
foot he will draw it up. The force to do so comes- 
from the spinal cord. The frog is the best instru- 
ment upon which to try these experiments ; and any 
experiment tried upon a frog can be equally applied 
to man or any other animal. If I cut off the head of 
a frog he will sit on my hand in his own remarkable 
way ; but if I tickle the sole of his foot he will draw 
it up. If I put him on the floor and jab him with a 
pin, he will jump away, quite as lively without his 
head as with it. We can prove our proposition from 
experience with decapitated persons. It is said that 
Charlotte Corday blushed after her head was cut off, 
because the executioner slapped her face ; and it is re- 
ported that at a recent execution in Paris the executed 
criminal opened his eyes after he had been decapi- 
tated. 

" We have shown that the brain dominates the nerv- 
ous system. Now, what is mind ? I consider it a 
force divided by nervous action. We can establish 
the relations of the mind, and we say that the brain 



THE BRAIN AND SENSES EVOLVE MIND. 59 

elaborates the mind just as the candle produces light. 
The brain is a force by which man is enabled to 
maintain his relations, and to originate ideas and to 
have will. Brain force is simply a motive mass, just 
like galvanism. Although we do not know exactly 
what the mind is, we have a better knowledge of it 
than Plato and others had in ancient times. In the 
modern system we begin with brains. We elaborate 
them as much as we can, and then we try experi- 
ments to find out what the mind is. Philosophers, 
such as Aristotle, Sir William Hamilton, Dugald 
Stewart, and others of the Scottish school, knew 
nothing about the mind. We study the mind from 
the experiments which we perform on animals and 
men. We perform these upon men through disease 
and accident, and thereby get at a very exact idea of 
certain portions of man's brains and mind, and are 
able to divide it into various divisions. Perception 
is that mental faculty by wdiich we acquire all of our 
education in connection with the senses. The will is 
the great organ by which we act. The will is set in 
motion by the emotions of the intellect." 

THE BRAIN AND SENSES EYOLYE MIND. 

These facts are unintelligible upon any other prin- 
ciple than that the brain and its connections of 
nerves charged with magnetic force are the organized 
mind, the motions or operations of which are thought 
and intelligence, receiving the animating electric 
force from the living organism by which it moves 
and performs volition ; just as the motions and power 
of the steam-engine are derived from the steam of the 
boiler. That the different organic capacities, other 
things being equal, depend upon the size of the 



6o KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

brain, just as those of the engine and boiler thus de- 
pend. That the waste of the substance of the brain 
is the waste of the mind, by its degree of action, 
precisely like the waste of the particles of iron from 
the operation of the boiler and engine ; and as an ex- 
plosion ends the functions of the one, and its power, 
so the disorganization of those of man ends his func- 
tions of thought and intelligence. The heathen no 
tion that the organic man is only a rude house in 
which the living, thinking creature resides, and he is 
no part of the organization, may be excusable for 
them, with their crude ideas of physiological science, 
and without any knowledge of the Bible : it is, how- 
ever, a gross reflection upon our age, and especially 
upon those who have the Bible in their hands, every 
word of which is in perfect accord with God's his- 
tory of man's creation and destiny, showing that when 
he dies he is as though he had never lived, and will 
so remain, without a resurrection ; and that means a 
re-creation and reorganization of all the faculties of 
the man. 

In the case of the face of the woman blushing after 
her head was severed from the body by being slapped 
in the face, we do not think it was a blush (which is 
the result of mental exercise), but that the redness 
was produced by the slap bringing to the skin the 
blood which had not yet flown from the head, just as 
a slap produces this red appearance upon any living 
person. Nor do we think the case of the man who 
opened his eyes after the decapitation was an act of 
volition, or of mind ; but was an involuntary spasm, 
or contraction of the nerves connected with the lids 
of the eyes, as often seen in the twitching motion of 
the muscles of beeves after being halved and hung 



RELATIONS OF LIFE AND MIND. 6 1 

up ; and as we saw once in the case of a man who 
had died of severe cramps, who threw his arm, which 
was lying by his side, suddenly upon his breast. 
Nor does the tickling of the. feet prove that volun- 
tary motion is possible with the head severed from 
the body, at least in the case of man ; but that the 
contractions of the muscles of the leg by the touch || 

of a living hand was the result of communicating an- 
imal magnetism to the foot, as we have done scores 
of times upon the living by a mere act of our will, 
unknown to the person thus affected. 

It is, however, different in the case of jabbing the 
pin into the headless frog ; but this result would 
never follow in the case of a headless man, and can 
only be accounted for in the case of the frog from 
the fact that in its organization it approximates so 
much nearer to the vegetable kingdom, whose or- 
ganic life is diffused through every part of the 
polyp, that it has no special organs of sense, and is 
capable of multiplying by buds and sections as well 
as by ova. 

With such facts and experiments before us, it be- 
comes an easy task to solve the problem of the con- 
stitution of life, and to show not only that it depends 
upon conditions, but what those conditions are. 

THE RELATIONS CF LIFE AHD HIND ILLUSTRATED. 

What are the relations of life and mind ? To sim- 
plify the question, we will confine it to the ultimate 
functions of each, which are breathing and thinking. 
As breathing depends upon the existence of lungs, 
and thinking upon that of brain, it follows that 
neither could have commenced if the lungs and brain 
had been left out of the human organization. This 



62 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

is as certain as that a function or operation presup- 
poses the existence of the thing performing it. The 
function of a steam-engine is motion, and motion is 
power ; but without steam, which it cannot manufac- 
ture, its machinery could not move, and there would 
be no power. The function of a steam-boiler is to 
confine steam until it reaches a pressure that would 
escape if it had vent. If it escaped into the air as 
fast as it was made, there would result no m.echanical 
power ; but now connect the vent in the boiler with 
a conducting pipe leading into the cylinder of the 
engine, and the steam at once moves the piston, and 
the result is power. This result grows out of the 
combination of the boiler and engine, connected by 
conducting pipes. It is certain that the engine 
would never have performed this function, though 
all its parts were perfectly formed, without the 
steam furnished by the boiler. Let us now suppose 
the boiler to be of extraordinary construction, hav- 
ing a chemical apparatus involved in itself adapted 
to decompose the air, retaining the oxygen and ex- 
pelling all the other gases of the atmosphere ; and 
this gas being the principle of flame, furnished its 
own fuel to make the steam. 

It is plain to see that the boiler could perform the 
function of keeping itself in motion as long as it 
was surrounded with the common atmosphere, and 
until some one of its parts either broke or wore 
out. While therefore the boiler, disconnected and 
independent of the engine, is dead, because having 
no life in itself, the boiler lives and keeps itself 
in motion ; and this is our subject. What the 
boiler is to the engine the lungs are to the life 
of man ; and what the engine is to external power. 



RELATIONS OF LIFE AND MIND. 63 

so is his thinking dep^irtment to that of the man. 
The hings breathe the air, decomposing it, and 
retain the oxygen, which is the fuel, to set the liv- 
ing department of the man in motion. And if he 
has a brain (cerebrum), and the conducting nerves 
(the parvagum, for instance), leading from the lungs 
to the brain, and they are connected, it supplies the 
force to set it in motion, the result of which is 
thought and voluntary power, carrying about the 
whole machine and enabling it to perform external 
acts. But if he has no brain proper, or is a perfect 
idiot, the breathing and living goes on ; but there 
is no thinking, and of course no thought or power. 
In fact, such a creature has not as much intelligence 
or moral character as the simplest insect ; for it has 
the faculty of volition, the power of voluntary mo- 
tion. That the breath is the animating gases of the 
air, and is common to all self-moving animals, is per- 
fectly clear from the record of their creation, as well 
as these physiological facts. 

The involuntary department begins to perform its 
functions from the inhalation of the first breath of 
air, and continues until some one or more of its 
organs become so deranged that they cease to act ; 
and then all sleep the sleep of death together. The 
unknowing says to the thinking knowing organs every 
night, You must go to sleep, as you have drawn 
upon me for as much force as I am able to supply for 
this day, and reserve enough to keep my own organs 
in motion. I manufacture from the food and air 
more force than I consume, but I cannot make 
enough to keep you and myself in operation all the 
time. If you do not cease your action, you will ex- 
haust so much of my force that I must go to sleep ; 



64 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

and if I go to sleep, I shall not awake until the resur- 
rection. Or if your department gets a fever, so that 
it cannot sleep for a certain number of days, this also 
will ^haust my force so that I will not have enough 
to carry on my own department, and you then com- 
pel me to go to sleep, and in turn you must sleep 
also ; for it is only when you sleep and cease to use 
up my force by thinking, that I reaccumulate force ; 
and when I have sufficient I wake you and say, My 
food (fuel) is out, and you must rise and procure a 
supply ; which if you do not, we will both go to 
sleep together : for I work while you sleep, but you 
cannot work when I sleep. And as your work is 
thinking, and you receive force from my lungs to do 
it, therefore your operation ceases with that of my 
lungs. In a word, as you did not begin to think 
until they began to breathe, so you must cease to 
think when they cease to breathe. 

AHIHAL AND HIHERAL MAGHETISM IDEHTICAL. 

That mineral and animal magnetism are identical, 
may easily be seen by such facts as the following, 
as well as that the construction of animals is power- 
fully electric : 

" The effect of a galvanic battery composed of 
large plates and one of small plates — making in all 
the same extent of surface — is quite different when 
applied to minerals or animals ; that composed of 
the large plates having the most intense chemical or 
heating power, while that consisting of small ones 
has the greatest effect on the animal system. Thus, 
a man can bear with little inconvenience the shock 
from a battery composed of plates six feet long and 
two feet and a half wide, while he would be stunned, 



ELECTRICITY AND THE LUNGS. 65 

or perhaps killed, by the shock of the same amount of 
surface were it divided so as to proceed from plates 
of only two or three inches in diameter. And yet 
this battery gives the most intensely calorific effects, 
while the calorific effects from the small plates is com- 
paratively insignificant." — ComstocJi s Chemistry, p. 71. 

ELECTRICITY AIID THE LUNGS. 

It is the law of electrics that the fluid always passes 
from the negative to the positive, and that in this ex- 
periment the heaviest shock from the battery com- 
posed of the smallest plates is the strongest negative 
in this relation. It also proves that man's lungs be- 
ing composed of such immense surface and of such 
small-sized cells as to form the most powerful bat- 
tery for the decomposition of the atmosphere and the 
retention of its electrified oxygen, which is sent at 
every inspiration to the voluntary and involuntary 
brain, for the purposes of vitality, volition, and 
thought. 

It has been calculated by Hales that each air-cell 
is the one hundredth part of an inch in diameter, and 
that the amount of surface furnished by them col- 
lectively is equal to twenty thousand square inches. 
MuNROE states that it is thirty times the surface of 
the human body. Lee says, " It should be borne in 
mind that the office of respiration is to bring the 
blood in contact with the air ; and accordingly the 
lungs are so constructed as to allow the largest pos- 
sible quantity of deteriorated or venous blood to en- 
joy the fullest intercourse with the largest possible 
quantity of vital air ; and all the mechanism of bones 
and muscles which I have described are only sub- 
servient to this end." 



66 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

The blood gets to the lungs by means of the pul- 
monary artery, which springs from the right ven- 
tricle of the heart, divides into two branches — one 
for each lung— and again subdivides, and ramifies 
through the organ in a manner precisely similar to 
the bronchial tubes. Every branch has a correspond- 
ing blood-vessel, which tracks it throughout its en- 
tire course until it reaches the air-vesicle, upon the 
surface of which the minute vessels expand and ram- 
ify, forming a network so beautiful that the anato- 
mist who first discovered it called it " the wonderful 
network." Thus the air is on one side and the 
blood on the other of this immense surface of the 
lungs, which is finer than the most delicate lace or 
gauze ; and as such is permeable not to compound 
air as such, but to its gases after decomposition by 
the lungs ; the oxygen penetrates these surfaces and 
unites with the blood, while a great portion of the 
carbon and the other gases, not needed by the ani- 
mal, but indispensable to the plant, are resisted by 
the lungs and given off by exhalation. Thus does 
the blood assume a florid hue from its dark venous 
color, and become fitted to carry the animating vigor 
of life to every part of the system. Thus does the 
mechanism of the lungs, with its small plates and im- 
mense aggregate surface, correspond with the gal- 
vanic battery with its small plates, as best adapted 
to manufacture the magnetic force for the use of the 
animal system. 

Another proof that mineral and animal magnetism 
are identical is the fact that if a vessel of blood be 
drawn from the veins, and a stream of magnetism 
from the battery conducted into it, it immediately 
assumes the florid, arterial hue. 



CONDITIONS OF BREATHING. 6/ 



COKDITIOIIS OF BREATHiriG. 

" We are now," says Lee, " prepared to trace the 
successive acts of respiration accomplished through 
the agency of this mechanism. About one second 
:ind a half after expiration, the muscles of inspiration 
begin to act, the intercostals contract (and it must 
be remembered that this contraction is the result of 
the magnetic force received from the involuntary 
brain, or the medulla oblongata, this being the 
machine with its nerve-conductors of which the 
lungs is the battery for the production of the mag- 
netism), and, by elevating the ribs, increase the dis- 
tance between the spine and sternum. As the ribs 
rise the diaphragm descends, and thus the cavity of 
the chest is enlarged in every direction. This expan- 
sion, like that of a bellows, causes a vacuum ; and as 
the lungs are passive, the air consequently rushes in 
through the mouth and nostrils to fill it, and this in- 
flux of air continues until the density of the internal 
is equal to that of the external air, when the act of 
inspiration is at an end. Again, the intercostal 
muscles relax, and the ribs, by their elasticity, are 
restored to their natural position, while at the same 
moment the diaphragm lelaxes, and allows the ab- 
dominal muscles to contract and thrust it up into 
the chest. Thus the lungs being pressed upon in 
every direction — below by the diaphragm, before by 
the sternum and ribs, and behind by the spine and 
ribs — the air is pressed out." 

Such is the wonderfully complicated mechanism 
of breathing. The bones, ligaments, muscles, and 
cartilages were formed for the sake of these little air- 
cells ; for it is througli their agency that the blood 



68 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

undergoes the necessary changes and carries the 
vitalizing spirit to the whole system, by which to re- 
pair the waste produced by its motions, both volun- 
tary and involuntary. When we reflect upon the 
relative extent of the actual respiratory surface, com- 
pared with the dimensions of the lungs themselves — 
that a stratum of blood several hundred feet in sur- 
face is exposed to a stratum of air still more exten- 
sive, and pressed within the space of a few inches, 
we cannot but be filled with admiration and aston- 
ishment at the wisdom displayed, and vainly search 
among the contrivances of human skill and genius 
for a counterpart. 

THE LUHGS, ELECTRICITY, AKD HE^'IRATIOH. 

The lungs are the only vital organ which is under 
the control of the will ; yet it is only in a subordi- 
nate degree : for no one can long suspend the move- 
ments of respiration, the vacuum becoming so great 
that the fifteen pounds' pressure of air to the square 
inch forces itself into the lungs irresistibly. It is 
through these voluntary nerves which go direct from 
the brain to the lungs that it receives its magnetic 
force to think, without being under the necessity of 
going through the circulating system of the blood. 

Another striking proof that the magnetism of the 
brain and nerves as a consequence is identical with 
the mineral magnetism of the battery, is the fact that 
when an organ is over-exerted it is at the expense of 
the substance of that organ. If you take the muscles 
(which areprincipally abundle of nerves) from a frog 
and connect them with the wires of a galvanic bat- 
tery, the muscles will contract. "When this has been 
done (as we have seen), weigh the muscles, and you 



ELECTRICITY AND THE CIRCULATION. 69 

will find them to be much lighter than before the at- 
tachment was made. They have lost a portion of 
the phosphates, the substance of which the nerves 
and brain are composed. 

ELECTRICITY AND THE CIRCULATION. 

The very nature of electricity is to decompose 
whatever substance or body it enters. In the atmos- 
phere it is pure ; but entering a mineral or an animal 
and carrying on its work of destruction it becomes 
changed into the chemical properties of these bodies ; 
indeed, it expands them into a sublimation equal or 
nearly equal with itself. Electricity therefore be- 
comes mineral or animal magnetism by its alliance 
and disposition, and consequently a universal agency 
of motion ; hence, that of the mind. As oxygen is a 
chemical positive, so is the blood when oxidized in 
the lungs, and is attracted to the extremities of the 
whole system because relatively negative, which on 
its passage gives off its electric charge, and becoming 
again negative in relation to the lungs, is attracted 
back to the lungs, which are kept positive by the 
continual inhalation of oxygen, and which they ex- 
pand into electric oxygen. 

This principle gives us the power by which the 
blood is circulated, and relieves the subject of the 
incongruous necessity of investing the heart with 
the functions of an animal, because performing vol- 
untary motion, leaving it simply as the regulator and 
creator of the pulsations whose sudden shocks or 
motions prevent sediment from settling in the circu- 
lating vessels, and its contraction and expansions are 
by the nervous force received from the involuntary 
brain. The identity of these fluids is also seen in 



70 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

the phenomenon that if you grasp the poles of a gal- 
vanic battery, the muscles of the hands and arms 
will immediately contract, just as they do by the 
magnetic force received from the brain by a decision 
of the will ; but if you part the nerves conducting 
the force from the brain the muscles will no more 
contract than they will by the artistic battery if the 
poles are not touched. 

THE MOTIOHS OF THE BRAIH AND FUHCTIOHS OF LIFE. 

It is also a fact that the motions of the brain in 
carrying on the functions of life may be distinctly 
heard by any two individuals, if they put their ears 
as close together as possible, shutting off the outside 
car with their hands. The sound will be like that of 
wheels in a factory ; but the machinery will move by 
vibrations corresponding with the pulsations, heavier 
and lighter, but continuous. 

Just as some minerals are more or less susceptible 
to magnetism, or are stronger or weaker positives 
and negatives in electric relation, so is it with ani- 
mals. We have magnetized the arm of a man, sim- 
ply by making passes down it, when in the course of 
a few moments the arm became as rigid and as hard 
as a bar of iron. We have seen some, while under the 
magnetic influence, who, if touched by a third person, 
would receive shocks which if standing upon their 
feet would have prostrated them. Othei"s in whom 
all sensation, power of thought, and volition had 
passed from them to him who had magnetized them. 
We have also ourselves affected the vital organs of 
such by quickening the circulation to the rapidity of a 
mere flutter, with a corresponding burning fever, all 
in the course of five minutes ; and allayed it in less 



THE MOTIO'NS OF THE BRAIN. 7 1 

time. It is also a well-known fact that all the volun- 
tary motions have been produced upon dead men by 
the galvanic battery ; and in some instances so nat- 
ural to life, that those engaged in the experiment ac- 
tually supposed they were coming to life. 

The difference between the mineral galvanic bat- 
tery in the rapid waste of its zinc plates by the acid« 
and the lungs, is that the plates of the latter are re- 
produced with new particles as rapidly as the waste, 
and that by their own action. Hence the superiority 
of the human machine. 

Here we have certain facts and their logical teach- 
ing — namcl}^ that the k/Kncing department of man is 
not the lii'ifig department. That the iJiinking organs 
receive their magnetic force to act from the living 
vital organs. When the lungs, heart, etc., are de- 
stroyed, the thinking ceases. That the separation of 
the two departm.ents is the extinction of life and 
thought. That the lungs are the battery which man- 
ufactures from the air and chyle the force to supply 
the brain, the organic mind, and the vital organs, by 
which they are able to perform their functions, re- 
sulting in life and thought. That mineral and ani- 
mal magnetism are identical, and are governed by 
the same laws. That electricity is modified in kind 
by every thing it enters. That its nature is to de- 
compose. That the living organism supplies the 
waste. That when dead, the supply being cut off, 
the whole man soon returns to dust, or the gases of 
which he was formed. That the living force is elec- 
trified oxygen. The mental force received direct by 
the brain from the lungs is pure magnetism. That 
breathing is a mechanical operation, life being the 
result, and thinking the result of life. That life is 



72 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

organized lungs breathing, thus setting all the 
other vital organs in motion. What the steam-boiler 
is to the engine the lungs are to the organic mind. 

PHILOSOPHY OF MEMORY. 

The position we assume in relation to Memory- 
is, that every object with which the mind becomes 
engaged so as to occupy its attention, its exact im- 
age is permanently photographed upon the physi- 
cal tablets of the brain. This faculty does not occu- 
py a particular location as a mental organ, such 
as that of Comparison, Individuality, etc., but, on 
the contrary, Memory is found to be allied with each 
and every distinct organ of the mental powers ; so 
that when any of them becomes excited to action, 
produced by the injection of an external object 
through any of the senses, the result is a photographic 
picture of that object on the brain. In connection 
with this idea, if we take into consideration the fact 
that the organs of the mind vary in size in different 
individuals, and that the variation is found to corre- 
spond with the degree of their activity, and also that 
the intensity of the impressions (other things being 
equal) depend upon and correspond with the variety 
of the development of those organs — or rather, that 
the development or depression is the result of the 
activity — we are furnished with a philosophical 
solution of the fact that the power of memory essen- 
tially varies among men. One individual may be in 
possession of a remarkably good memory in relation 
to all passing events and circumstances connected 
with financial matters, while those organs in the 
mind of the same person which give rise to the in- 
centive to divine worship, by long neglect have be- 



PHYSICAL IMPRESSIONS UPON THE BRAIN. 73 

come so depressed and inactive that scarcely an im- 
pulse is felt in that direction ; and when it is felt, it is 
so feeble that it is easily forgotten. Such persons are 
often heard to complain of having a bad memory 
when religious topics are the subject of conversation ; 
but projects concerning money, having become their 
study by day, and as a consequence the theme of 
their dreams by night, are memorized, to the exclu- 
sion of all other subjects within the realm of their 
intellect. In a word, we remember those things 
which most interest us, because the}' make the most 
powerful impressions on our minds. 

THE BRAIN GROWS RIGID BY AGE. 

The brain, like every other department of the phys- 
ical system, grows rigid and hard by age, and gives 
the reason why youthful impressions are remembered 
in old age, while those of yesterday arc forgotten. 
The youthful pictures were burned deeper into the 
plastic brain. The scientific principle of memory, 
therefore, can only be established upon the suppo- 
sition that real physical impressions are produced 
upon the brain corresponding with all the objects 
the mind has ever contemplated. This must be re- 
garded as the fundamental principle of memory. 

PHYSICAL IMPRESSIONS UPON THE BRAIN THE FUNDA- 
MENTAL PRINCIPLE. 

That this is the true idea, is also proved by the 
philosophy of the association of thought. Let it be 
supposed that no such physical impressions are pro- 
duced upon the brain, and how would it be possible 
for the mind to recall past events and images of ob- 
jects, with the various scenes of nature and human 



74 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

occurrence through which individuals pass, and 
which become not only familiarly associated with, 
but constitute the record of history ? A person 
comes in contact with an object, some of whose 
features he perceives to bear a striking resemblance 
to those of some other object seen at a former period. 
This perception results from the comparison now 
made between the image of the former object on his 
brain with that which now appears before his eyes. 
Hence the features of similarity or of dissimilarity 
between the two are recognized. 

The only objection having a show of argument 
against this principle is the supposition that the re- 
spective images of all the objects with which the 
mind has ever come in contact from youth to age are 
retained by being held passively in the thinking 
powers ; but the law of mind, requiring the dismissal 
of every other thought to pay the whole attention of 
the thinking faculties to the one now occupying them, 
forbids the possibility of such a supposition. The 
objection is also without force from the fact that the 
mental faculties are not always in operation ; this 
being the case in sound sleep, when the intellect is 
entirely dormant, and consequently every object is 
dismissed from the realm of thought, not one of 
which could ever be recalled or recollected upon this 
principle or any other than that of the existence of 
permanent images struck upon the brain. An indi- 
vidual meets another whom he has not seen for 
twenty years. When recognized, he exclaims, "How 
you have changed !" How does he know he has 
changed, only as he compares the photographic pic- 
ture of the man made on his brain twenty years pre- 
viously with that now before his eyes ? 



THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY. 75 

It may be objected that the multiplicity of impres- 
sions or real images of objects which an individual 
receives during a long life vv^ould mar, confuse, and 
disfigure each other so as to destroy their identity. 
In answer we may remark, the objector should be 
reminded of the fact that one of the most distin- 
guished features of the mind is, the more its facul- 
ties are taxed or exercised (within a certain limit), 
the more is their capacity increased. The objection 
would hold good against any material surface pre- 
pared by the ingenuity of man. The last would dis- 
figure and destroy the identity of that already exist- 
ing. But are we to infer from this that the great 
Architect of Creation is incapable of constructing a 
surface not thus defective ? And where else would 
we be likely to see such skill displayed as in the or- 
ganized human brain ? On this sublime arrange- 
ment, therefore, we conclude, are the beautiful tran- 
scriptions of all objects, whether received by contact 
with our own senses, or by description, with which 
the mind has ever been occupied, which stand pictured 
without confusion or irregularity. The objection ap- 
pears still more unfounded and absurd when it is 
considered that man alone of all the works of God 
was created in " His own image, after His likeness," 
and as an intelligent bein'g, although in comparative 
ruin, still bears the characteristics of his great per- 
sonal Original. 

ILLUSTRATED BY THE ART OF PHCTOGRAPHY. 

The art of photography furnishes so striking an il- 
lustration of the principle of the production of pic- 
tures on the brain, that we will here introduce some 
of its most prominent features. We have denomi- 



^6 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

nated that agency of the mind by which the will is ca- 
pable of transferring pictures of objects or impres- 
sions of feeling from itself to other minds, electrical, 
simply because of its sublimation, so that it can per- 
meate all other bodies ; there being nothing in nature 
impervious to its penetration, or possessed of chem- 
ical properties necessary to its successful i-esistance. 
It is this feature which gives it its peculiar adapta- 
tion to be the mind's agent — the cranium, with all its 
membraneous surfaces, offering no resistance either 
to its reception or rejection. Not even an atmo- 
spheric vacuum possesses the least power to impede 
its progress. 

The inventor of the Camera Obscura took the 
mechanism of the human eye as the pattern after 
which to construct his machine. In this is placed the 
plate prepared for the reception of the image of the 
object. In the formation of the machine there is the 
convex lens, which, like the retina of the eye, looks 
at the object placed before it. On this lens the 
image is struck, and from which it is conveyed into 
the camera, where it is struck upon the plate ; 
feature answering feature, as in perfect similitude. 
So is it with the human eye. Its convex lens receives 
the image of the object placed before it ; and if the 
mind is not too much engaged at the time with other 
matters, it becomes suddenly aroused by the visit of 
the new object brought into its dark chambers, 
and after having delineated all its features, re- 
ceives the imprint of its image on its living and 
plastic tablets, which is retained, and is therefore 
susceptible of being called into vivid remembrance 
by the discovery of another object possessing similar 
features of identity. The presence of light, with all 



SUPERIORITY OF THE MENTAL STRUCTURE. 7/ 

its constituents of hydrogen, oxygen, and electricity, 
is also indispensable to the success of this art, as 
well as to that of the phenomena of human vision. 
No photographs can therefore be taken in the dark. 

In the transmission of photographic pictures, all 
the elements entering into the composition of light, 
and which intervene between the machine of the 
artist and the object to be photographed, are thrown 
into motion and formed into lines, circles, and angles, 
simply by its relative position with the machine be- 
fore which it is placed. Although there are no mov- 
ing devices in the machine adapted to convey force 
to these elements, still, were this not the fact, no 
other effect could be produced than that of an object 
before a mirror which would vanish as soon as the 
object was withdrawn, or when an opaque body was 
placed between. This achievement of art, therefore, 
furnishes an illustration which it is easy to compre- 
hend, showing conclusively the philosophical prin- 
ciple upon which the mind acts in communicating 
tangible and intelligent impressions by a mere act of 
the will to other 'minds, independent, and therefore 
upon another principle than that by which it acts 
ordinarily in the intercommunication of intelligence, 
and, as we see, presents one of the important princi- 
ples accounting for the intelligence connected with 
the (so-called) spirit manifestations, without the aid 
of the spirits of the dead, and which do not exist. 

THE SUPERIORITY OF THE MENTAL STRUCTURE. 

To show the superiority of the mental structure in 
the reception and transmission of the images of ob- 
jects, it must be remembered that the lens of the eye 
is connected by the optic nerve from the retina to 



78 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

the brain, forming an unbroken channel of communi- 
cation between external scenes and the seat of reason, 
on whose physical plates, prepared and polished by 
the skilful hand of the Divine Architect, the images 
are traced ; whereas no such conducting medium ex- 
ists between the lenses of the artist's machine and 
the camera obscura where the images are formed — 
the intervening atmosphere being compelled to sub- 
serve the purpose. 

That the organs of the brain move in the operation 
of thought, or thinking, such facts as the following 
establish beyond question : A man received a frac- 
ture of the skull, and the effect upon his mind was 
that of perfect insanity. Some time afterward it was 
ascertained that a piece of the skull had been driven 
into the brain, acting as a wedge, and preventing its 
delicate movements. At the time of the accident 
the individual was engaged in conversation with a 
friend ; and it was remarked that when the surgeon 
removed the piece of skull from the brain, he imme- 
diately resumed the subject of his discourse, and fin- 
ished the precise sentence which had been cut short 
by the accident. 

There was another individual who had a portion 
of his skull carried away in battle, but who lived for 
years afterward. He would permit any one, for a 
small sum, to press his brain with their finger. This 
would instantly put a stop to thought ; but on 
removing the pressure it would as instantly com- 
mence. 

These facts of experience and scientific principles 
seem to us to admit of no other conclusion than that 
all the phenomena of life and intelligence are as 
really the result of material organization as that 



FRAUDS IN SPIRITUAL PIII-XOMENA. 79 

Steam-power results from the constructed and con- 
nected boiler and engine, leaving no more room or 
work for an indwelling knowing inhabitant to per- 
form in the one case than in the other, such as an m- 
telligent musician playing upon his organs to make 
music, or upon his organic brain to make thought ; or 
that the mysterious person sits concealed among 
the parts of the steam-engine, compelling them to 
perform their functions. 

If we cannot as fully explain the machinery of the 
organic man working out its wonders of life and m- 
teUigence as we can that of the steam-engme, it is 
solely to be attributed to our wantof comprehendmg 
its entire mechanism. J3ut by the facts of science 
and of observation, the analogies of nature and the 
principles of philosophy, we may approximate the 
solution to such a degree as leaves nothing but igno- 
rance and superstition to doubt ; and if we were un- 
able to account for a single phenomenon of Spiritual- 
ism it would not leave the least grounds for the sup- 
position of the existence of the spirits of the dead as 
this only serves to complicate the problem, by add- 
ing a wheel within a wheel, or a locomotive within 
a locomotive, in order to explain the capabilities of 
the f^rst It is like a boy who cannot comprehend 
the mechanism of a coffee-mill declaring it to be a 
locomotive, in order to help him out of the dilemma. 

FRAUDS IH SPIRITUAL PHEIIOHEIIA EXPOSED BY I.IR. 
D. D. HOME. 

We shall now, however, attempt to show that what 
are the real phenomena of Spiritualism find their 
solution within the laws of natural science. 
' That a vast amount of the so-called spint-manifes- 



8o KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

tation is the work of trick and deception, any one 
can satisfy themselves by reading their exposure in 
a book called Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism, by 
D. D. Home, a few of which we introduce below. 

The author says : " What, for instance, can be 
done with such Spiritualists as a Frenchman of rank, 
and advanced in years, whom I style Count Z. ? 
During the winter of 1875 T heard that he had been 
boasting of a wonderful medium just discovered by 
him, and that he was holding seances with the said 
medium — a gentleman of position and good family, 
but who, to my certain knowledge, even then pro- 
fessed atheistical doctrines. It seemed to me, there- 
fore, that this mediumship must be pretended. I 
said so ; and a dozen parrot voices at once took up 
the old cry, ' Home is jealous.' In fact, so much 
had I to endure that I determined to obtain convinc- 
ing proof of the truth of the mediumship in question. 
Meeting Count Z.'s medium in the South of France, I 
interrogated the gentleman on the subject, and ob- 
tained from him a certificate, of which the following 
is a literal translation : 

" ' May gth, 18.76. — In response to the desire of Mr. 
Home, I declare by the present document that I have 
never assumed to myself the power of mediumship. 
On the contrary, I have always, in those private 
gatherings where people amuse themselves with 
Spiritualism, and where it was sought to make me 
pass for a medium, denied being one ; and have 
pointed out that, as I am a materialist and atheist, it 
is impossible for me to believe in the doctrine of 
Spiritualism. Frederic S.' 

" I told Count Z.," says Home, " that the whole 



FRAUDS IN SPIRITUAL PHENOMENA, 8 1 

of the manifestations he witnessed in my presence 
resulted from trickery ; that I was not a medium, 
and had no belief in the thing. ' Yes, yes,' he re- 
plied, ' I am sure you are quite honest in thinking 
you do these things yourself ; but I know better. It 
is not you, it is the dear spirits, and you are the 
most wonderful medium in the world.' 

" When all this began in Paris, I and some ladies 
who stayed in the same hotel often went into fits of 
laughter over the Count's credulity. Whilst sitting 
together, one of us would slyly pat his head or pinch 
his knee. ' Dear, dear spirits,' he used then to re- 
mark, ' please do that again.' Often, too, the person 
nearest the fire-place would watch for an opportunity 
of giving the sheet-iron screen a kick. Always, when 
this occurred, the Count would cry out in an exult- 
ant voice, ' The dear spirits are imitating thunder.' 
Not only have I told him that these things were done 
by ourselves for amusement, but explained to him 
how they were done. ' Those flowers,' I v/ould say, 
' which were found on the table last evening, I took 
from my pocket, and placed there.' Still the only 
reply was, ' Yes, yes ; you think so, but I know bet- 
ter. It was the dear spirits, and you are the most 
wonderful medium in the world.' Nothing could 
convince him otherwise. Yet Count Z. and such as 
he are considered supporters of our cause ! 

" Let me with a few words dismiss the people and 
the actions that remain to be noticed," says Mr. 
Home. " There are ' spirits ' who, after having 
been ' reduced to the necessity of self-release ' from 
earth, return there to make such communications on 
behalf of ' materializing mediums ' as the following : 
' Be it far from me to keep silence while the belittled 



82 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

and belittling croakers are doing their best to disgrace 
and ruin a band of as true and noble workers as the 
age may boast of, and all for the reason that their 
sphere of faith, sight, and action is quite above and 
beyond the reach of microscopic eyes. Do these 
penny-a-liner journalists, and all the obscene birds 
for whom they cater, know or think what they are 
about ? I believe not. If they did, they would see 
themselves murderers of the most malignant type. 
They foul the finest character, and then, with long 
faces and solemn drawl, pronounce it carrion ; and 
they taint with their foul breath the purest air.' 
After this the spirit remarks, that ' were his voice 
clothed with thunder, and his pen armed with 
lightning, he would make all these skin-deep ex- 
posurers shiver in their shoes.' Manner and 
matter continue equally beneath contempt through 
the whole communication. I dismiss it, therefore, 
and proceed. What I have given may serve as a 
specimen of the trash which the most degraded of 
spirits must blush to find attributed to them. 

" England, and still more America, have numbers 
of such advertisements as, ' Madam , Clairvoy- 
ant on Business, Love, Marriage,' etc. ' Professor 

, Astrologer, may be consulted daily on the 

Events of Life.' ' Madam , Magnetic Treatment. 

Love Powder, one dollar.' These setters of traps for 
the foolish can in no sense be considered Spiritualists. 
The only Spiritualists blamable in the matter are the 
one or two editors who admit such announcements in 
their columns. 

" I have already shown what perplexing people 
from the other world are occasionally reported as 
presenting themselves at seances. One or two other 



FRAUDS IN SPIRITUAL PHENOMENA. 83 

examples deserve to be touched upon. The follow 
ing extract introduces and explains itself : 

" ' A monthly has appeared in Boston — a novelty 
in the periodical world, for it professes to be edited 
by a disembodied essence. Nor are the spirits con- 
tent with spiritual direction, for, with an eye to the 
loaves and fishes, one of the number acts as business 
manager, though the visible amanuensis and pub- 
lisher is a physician. There are angels of darkness 
as well as angels of light, and in the ' Voice ' a strict 
impartiality is preserved ; for one of the first angels 
who has come upon the stage is James Fisk, Jr. ; 
and now we learn the secret of that speculator's life. 
He describes himself as having been, when in the 
flesh, the unconscious medium of a band of reckless 
spirits who manipulated him as a skilful pianist 
handles the keys of his instrument ; and he could no 
more help doing what he did than could the instru- 
m'ent help discoursing the music of the operator. 
The editor-in-chief has the spiritual penetration into 
the weakness of humanity which tells him that, if he 
would interest the public, he has to give voice to the 
bad spirits rather than to the good ones. People 
want to know what the rascal did, and why he did 
it, and Fisk, Jr., was a good subject to commence 
with.' " 

Home says : " Possibly those beings were members 
of the above band, who at a particular seance caused 
the instruments to play by ' spirit power ' their favor- 
ite tunes, Durang's Hornpipe, Yankee Doodle, and 
the Devil's Dream. We hear, too, of a spirit whose 
ordinary manifestations are working a sewing- 
machine and playing upon a mouth-organ." 

Mrs. Hardinge says: "Another celestial visitor 



84 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

wrote a letter, directed the envelope, put a stamp on 
it, and mailed it in the iron box at the street-corner. 
But such stories are numberless. They have as little 
of the spiritual in them as have the wild dances in 
which ' mediums ' (generally females) indulge under 
the influence of imaginary Indian controls. Like 
these, they are the products of overheated and morbid 
minds. I believe that of the many and glaring ab- 
surdities upon which I have commented in this chap- 
ter, not a twentieth are attributable to spirits. It is 
not to drink tea and play on a fiddle, to give blas- 
phemously ludicrous communications regarding 
Christ and His apostles, to strut about in skull-caps 
and yellow boots, to beat people over the head with 
paper tubes, to throw cushions at sceptics, to hold 
up murderers as respectable objects, to tell people by 
what omnibuses to travel, or to describe the next 
world as a place where humanity deteriorates, that 
departed spirits return to earth. Their mission is 
great, their opportunities are limited. What time 
have they then to waste in idiotisms of which a 
school-boy would feel ashamed ? 

" The most severe blows that Spiritualism has sus- 
tained have been those aimed by unprincipled and 
avaricious mediums, who, when the manifestations 
failed to come as freely as the circumstances required, 
practised imposition to supply the deficiency." 

So wrote Mrs. Hardinge inherlfisfofy of American 
Spiritualising and every year fresh evidence testifies to 
the truth of her assertion. 

"Wherever the facts of Spiritualism have pene- 
trated, lying imitations of those facts may be found. 
The producers of such imitations are of both sexes 
and every age. They may be divided into three 



FRAUDS IN SPIRITUAL PHENOMENA. 85 

classes. The first is made up of persons who, while 
reall}' possessing medial gifts, will, when much 
tempted, resort to fraud. The second class consists 
also of mediums — but of mediums w^ho, being'utterly 
unprincipled, rather prefer to cheat than not ; and 
who will not, therefore, hesitate to lie and deceive 
even w^hen no encouragement exists to do so. It is 
with such that the most frequent and damaging ex- 
posures occur. They are seldom expert conjurers. 
The difference between the false and the genuine 
phenomena witnessed in the presence of these is too 
glaring to escape the notice of any person not blinded 
by folly and credulity. Soon, therefore, some de- 
cisive exposure crushes the faith of all but the in- 
sanely enthusiastic, and Othello, in the shape of the 
untrustworthy medium, finds his occupation for the 
present gone. It is true that he almost invariably 
resumes it when the storm caused by his rascality 
has blown over ; but, meanwhile, our cause has re- 
ceived another wound, and the broad and easy way 
of fraudulent mediumship has been once more dem- 
onstrated to lead to destruction. 

" In the third class I place those charlatans who, 
though destitute of any real claim to the title of me- 
dium, find it profitable to impose themselves as such 
upon credulous Spiritualists, and to imitate the phe- 
nomena by methods of more or less dexterity. This 
species of impostor usually varies the monotony of 
his frauds by showing how those frauds were accom- 
plished, and, after disgracing the Spiritualists who 
have received him as an exponent of truth, also dis- 
graces the unbelievers who receive him as an ex- 
poser, not of Spiritualism, but of his own villany. 

"The evil has assumed gigantic proportions. 



86 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

Dishonesty and darkness, its natural ally, are arrayed 
against honesty and light. It is with plasure that I 
see signs of an organized attempt to abate the 
nuisance. Certain enlightened Spiritualists, and a 
few (alas ! a very few) select mediums who, in the 
consciousness of their honesty, can afford to en- 
counter fearlessly investigation and the sun, are 
banding themselves against those ' children of the 
night ' who affect carefully darkened rooms, and 
seances from which all opportunity for inquiry is ex- 
cluded. To aid in this noble work of putting down 
imposture and destroying abuses, my present volume 
is written. The battle in which I and other honest 
men are engaged will no doubt be hard. Experience 
has organized trickery to a high pitch, and the dupes 
are many. Let lovers of truth then do their best to 
cast light upon the dark places with which Spiritual- 
ism is cursed. I have acquired from various sources 
information regarding the fashion in which certain 
impositions are accomplished, and I proceed now to 
detail the ?nodus operandi of such fraudulent manifes- 
tations. Once awakened to these cheats, investigat- 
ors may with ease guard against their being practised. 
" The form of fraud at present most in vogue is 
the simulation of spirit form or forms. To be suc- 
cessful, such simulation usually requires the aid of a 
room so illy lighted as practically not to be lighted 
at all, a ' cabinet ' into which the medium withdraws 
from the view of the sitters, and various other ' con- 
ditions ' of the sort. When the rules of such seances 
are broken awkward discoveries occur. Sometimes 
the light is turned up suddenly, and the medium is 
revealed in his or her ' spirit dress.' Sometimes the 
' spirit form ' is grasped, and found to be none other 



now THE TRICKS ARE PERPETRATED. 8/ 

than the medium. But, should all go well, the cred- 
ulous are often highly gratified. Figures appear, 
clad in flowing and parti-colored robes. The dis- 
play of drapery seems most extensive. Yet when the 
medium is searched at the conclusion of the seance 
no trace of this drapery can be found. Whence has 
it vanished ? The believers presently reply that ' the 
spirits have de-materialized it.' The sceptics prob- 
ably examine the cabinet, and are astonished that 
they find nothing. Perhaps the evidence I have to 
offer may throw a little light on the concealments 
sometimes practised. Let me commence with the 
narrative of an unimpeachable witness, my friend 
Serjeant Cox : 

HOY/ THE TRICKS ARE PERPETRATED. 

" ' Dear Home : I am satisfied that a large 
amount of fraud has been and still is practised. 
Some of it is doubtless deliberately planned and ex- 
ecuted, but some is, I think, done while the medium 
is in a state of somnambulism (clairvoyance), and 
therefore unconscious. As all familiar with the 
phenomena of somnambulism are aware, the patient 
acts to perfection any part suggested to his mind, 
but wholly without self-perception at the time, or 
memory afterwards. But such an explanation serves 
only to acquit the medium of deliberate imposture ; 
it does not affect the fact that the apparent manifes- 
tation is not genuine. The great field for fraud has 
been offered by the production and presentation of 
alleged spirit forms. All the conditions imposed 
are carefully designed to favor fraud if contem- 
plated, and even to tempt imposture. The curtain 
is guarded at either end by some friend. The light 



88 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

is so dim that the features cannot be distinctly seen. 
A white veil thrown over the body from head to foot 
is put on and off in a moment, and gives the neces- 
sary aspect of ethereality. A white band round the 
head and chin at once conceals the hair and dis- 
guises the face. A considerable interval precedes 
the appearance — just as would be necessary for the 
preparation. A like interval succeeds the retirement 
of the form before the cabinet is permitted to be 
opened for inspection. This just enables the ordi- 
nary dress to be restored. While the preparation is 
going on behind the curtain the company are always 
vehemently exhorted to sing. This would con- 
veniently conceal any sounds of motion in the act of 
preparation. The spectators are made to promise 
not to peep behind the curtain, and not to grasp the 
form. They are solemnly told that if they were to 
seize the spirit they would kill the medium ! This is 
an obvious contrivance to deter the onlookers from 
doing any thing that might cause detection. It is 
not true. Several spirits have been grasped, and no 
medium has died of it, although in each case the sup- 
posed spirit was found to be the medium. That the 
detected medium was somewhat disturbed in health 
after such a public detection and exposure, is not at 
all surprising. Every one of the five [since this was 
written, says Mr. Home, by Sergeant Cox, the num- 
bers have greatly increased. I doubt if there remain 
now five materializing mediums who have not been 
seized in the act of personating a spirit form] medi- 
ums who have been actually seized in the act of per- 
sonating a spirit are now alive and well. There need 
be no fear for the consequences in putting them to 
the proof. 



HOW THE TRICKS ARE PERrETRvVTED, 89 

" ' But I have learned how this trick is done, hav- 
ing seen the description of it given by a medium to 
another medium who desired instruction. The letter 
was in her own handwriting, and the whole style of 
it showed it to be genuine. She informs her friend 
that she comes to the seance prepared with a dress 
that is easily taken off with a little practice. She 
says it may be done in two or three minutes. She 
wears two shifts (probably for warmth). She brings 
a muslin veil of thin material (she gives its name,' 
which I have forgotten). It is carried in her drawers ! 
It can be compressed into a small space, although 
when spread it covers the whole person. A pocket- 
handkerchief pinned round the head keeps back the 
hair. She states that she takes off all her clothes ex- 
cept the two shifts, and is covered by the veil. The 
gown is spread carefully upon the sofa over the pil- 
lows. In this array she comes out. She makes very 
merry with the Spiritualists whom she thus gulls, 
and her language about them is any thing but com- 
plimentary. This explains the whole business. 
The question so often asked before was — where the 
robe could be carried ? It could not be contained in 
the bosom or in a sleeve. Nobody seems to have 
thought of the drawers. 

" ' But it will be asked how we can explain the fact 
that some persons have been permitted to go behind 
the curtain when the form was before it, and have 
asserted that they saw or felt the medium. I am 
sorry to say the confession to which I have referred 
states without reserve that those persons knew that 
it was a trick, and lent themselves to it. I am of 
course reluctant to adopt such a formidable conclu- 
sion ; although the so-called " confession " was a con- 



go KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

fidenlial communication from one medium to another 
medium who had asked to be instructed how the 
trick was done. I prefer to adopt the more charitable 
conclusion that they were imposed upon ; and it is 
easy to find how this was likely to be done. The 
same suspicious precautions against detection were 
always adopted. The favored visitor was an assured 
friend — one Avho, if detecting trickery, would shrink 
from proclaiming the cheat. But one was permitted 
to enter, and a light was not allowed. There was noth- 
ing but the darkness visible of the lowered gas-rays 
struggling through the curtain. I have noted that 
no one of them ever was permitted to see the face of 
the medium. It was always wrapped in a shawl. 
The hands felt a dress, and imagination did the rest. 
The revealer of the secret above referred to says that 
when she took off her gown to put on the white veil, 
she spread it upon the sofa or chair with pillows or 
something under it ; and this is what they felt, and 
took for her body ! 

" ' The lesson to be learned from all this is that no 
phenomena should be accepted as genuine that are 
not produced under strict test conditions. Investi- 
gators should be satisfied with no evidence short of 
the very best that the circumstances will permit. 
Why accept the doubtful testimony of one person 
groping in the dark, when the question can be de- 
cided beyond dispute once and forever by the simple 
process of drawing back the curtain while the alleged 
spirit is outside, and showing the medium inside to 
the eyes of all present ? Where absolute tests are 
refused upon any pretence whatever, and where the 
conditions imposed are just such as are calculated to 
prevent detection, if trickery is designed, we are 



now THE TRICKS ARE rERPETRATED. 9 1 

bound to look with the utmost suspicion upon all that 
is done ; and indeed we should refuse to take part in 
an)-- such unsatisfactory experiment. 

" ' Yours most truly, 

" ' Edward Wm. Cox. 

" ' March 8, 1876.' " 

Mr. Home says : " The narrative above given 
bears a peculiar value from the circumstance attend- 
ing the confession of imposture to which it refers. 
The exposure meets even the conditions demanded 
by those enthusiasts who would rather libel a hun- 
dred spirits than believe one medium guilty of trick- 
cry. ' The only conclusive proof that a medium has 
perpetrated fraud,' a philosopher of this class writes, 
' is proof that the physical organs of the medium 
acted in obedience to his or her own will and pur- 
poses at the time when the seemingly fraudulent acts 
were performed.' This proof the medium in ques- 
tion herself affords. But there are numerous other 
methods by which impostors of this class may suc- 
cessfully conceal the materials necessary for the de- 
ceptions they contemplate. To expose those methods, 
the Religio-Philosop/iical Journal, some months back, 
printed an article which the Spiritual Scientist promptly 
copied. The course of these serials was in honorable 
contrast to that uniformly pursued in such cases by 
the least creditable of American Spiritual publica- 
tions, the miscalled Banner of Light. 

" All the material for bogus mediums to imitate 
spirit manifestations can be so concealed about the 
person (the above-named journal points out), that the 
most rigid search may fail to find it. A common 
silk necktie tied around the neck under a paper 
collar will conceal a gauze-like texture, with silk 



92 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

handkerchiefs, etc., sufficient to produce your sister, 
mother, or daughter, as the case may be. The ex- 
pert, too, can conceal them in the lining of his 
pants, vest, or coat, with threads so arranged as to 
deceive the eye, and in a moment's time they may 
be taken out and replaced. Those who have never 
investigated this matter would be astonished at the 
small space required for the articles necessary to 
materialize a first-class spirit. 

" Tissue paper also acts an important part in bogus 
materializations, it being used on the head and vari- 
ous parts of the body to complete the dress. It can 
be concealed in the lining of the vest, coat, or pants, 
and you may search for it, but will not discover it 
easily. It is an easy matter to deceive three out of 
five who attend these bogus circles. Some people 
like to be humbugged ; they take pleasure in it, as 
those did who attended G 's circles in New York. ' ' 

Mr. Home says : " Such are the means by which 
pretended materializations are accomplished. The 
ordinary mode, it will be perceived, is to conceal the 
' spirit dress ' about the person. This, however, is 
not invariably done. A notorious trickster, whose 
exposure and punishment occupied some time back 
the attention of the Spiritual press, was accustomed 
to operate in a different, but equally elaborate man- 
ner. On entering the seance room his first request 
would be to see the ' cabinet.' ' Cabinets ' usually 
contain a chair or a couch. The medium, after a 
glance round, seated himself on one or the other, and 
commenced a desultory conversation. Presently he 
rose, with some remark, as ' It's growing late : we 
had better begin the seance.' First, he would add, 
' Let me retire with some of you, and be searched.' 



" SPIRITUAL scientist's " DISCLOSURES. 93 

The retirement and the search duly took place. 
Nothing could be found. The medium re-entered 
the recess, and the circle was arranged. Presently 
the curtains parted, and a much-draped form ap- 
peared. Was it possible that all this could be accom- 
plished by imposture ? After various of these exhi- 
bitions had taken place, the question received an an- 
swer in the affirmative. That conversation in the 
cabinet had a deeper significance than might have at 
first been supposed. Whilst the impostor's tongue 
was busy, his hands were by no means idle. The 
light talk he started was merely intended to afford 
him time for concealing somewhere about the couch 
or chair on which he sat a tight little parcel contain- 
ing his spiritual trappings. This accomplished, he 
was of course perfectly ready to be searched. The 
most rigid investigation of his dress was vain. 
Shawl, veil, etc., all of the lightest and thinnest 
fabric, awaited him in the cabinet. The number of 
such swindles is astonishing. 

DISCLOSURES BY THE "SPIRITUAL SCIENTIST." 

" The Spiritual Scientist \we\\ remarks, in its leading 
article of March i6th, 1S76, ' It would be interesting 
information if any one could tell us of the number of 
darkened parlors on back streets that are the scenes 
of frequent seances for spirit materializations. A de- 
scription of the " wonders " that are here witnessed 
would be highly interesting to credulous people, but 
a careful investigator would ask more particularly 
concerning the conditions under which these mani- 
festations are obtained. A few words tell the stor3^ 
They are patterned one after the other — the original 
being the one that has been the longest in the busi- 



94 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

ness. The individual who would attend these shows 
is obliged to make a personal application. He is 
met at the door by a strong specimen of the genus 
homo, who informs the humble applicant that his 
petition will be referred to John King. (John King 
is the familiar name for the manager on the spiritual 
side of the show.) The answer of John King will be 
given to the applicant if he will call at some future 
day ; and it may be said the success or failure of his 
attempt to enter the charmed circle will depend 
greatly on his personal appearance and the number 
of ladies that are to be present on any evening he 
may wish to gain admittance. These shrewd man- 
agers have found that the best conditions are ob- 
tained when the ladies are in a large majority, and 
the number of men present does not exceed one to 
every two friends of the operator or medium. If an 
applicant should gain admittance, he is assigned a 
seat in the back part of the room ; the front seats are 
reserved for the tried friends of the spirits. The sit- 
ters in the front row hold in their hands and are held 
by a stout wire bent in the form of a horseshoe. At 
either end sits a friend of the medium. The medium 
enters. She may be a small, slender, middle-aged 
lady, or one that is fat and fair. She takes her seat 
in one corner of the room, or behind a pair of folding 
doors in a dark ante-room, or in an alcove furnished 
with doors opening into closets. Any of these are 
favorite conditions, and a correct type of several of 
the apartments of materializing mediums in this city. 
A curtain now conceals the medium from view. 
Some one starts a discordant noise which is called 
singing, and the manifestations commence. The 
standard stock in trade consists of the materialized 



THE TOTAL DARK Sl^ANCES. 95 

forms of an old woman and a sailor. These you will 
find at nearly all the seances. In addition each me- 
dium has an attendant, whose office corresponds to 
that of the genus homo in the circle. He keeps things 
in order.' 

" The above is no exaggeration. It is a faithful 
representation of the majority of the so-called mate- 
rializing seances in Boston. Woe to the man or 
woman who ventures to suggest other conditions ! 
He or she is sent to Coventry immediately, and is 
ever afterwards looked upon as a suspected person,, 
whose presence endangers the success of the enter- 
prise. There are enough patrons from among the 
weak and credulous phenomenalists — people who 
will recognize in the materialized old lady the shade 
of their grandmother. Better make a few dollars 
and be safe than endeavor to make a few more by 
admitting sensible people who will readily discover 
the imposture. It is a reflection upon Spiritualists 
that test mediums who are always able to give some 
message, token of love, or valuable information from 
the dwellers in the spirit, should be neglected for a 
darkened room, where forms that may be inflated 
masks, or something else, flit in an uncertain light at 
intervals for about an hour and then vanish, leaving 
the minds of the audience in a state of unpleasant 
uncertainty. It is no wonder that Spiritualism lan- 
guishes, and that its adherents are unable to support 
a single course of lectures in Boston !" 

THE TOTAL DARK SEANCES. 

Mr. Home says : " Of another class are the dark 
Seances at present held. Sometimes the pitchest 
blackness prevails. Instruments rattle discordantly. 



96 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

Voices bellow through pasteboard speaking-trum- 
pets. Persons in various parts of the circle are 
touched or patted by supposed spirit hands. Noth- 
ing is offered that can in the slightest degree be con- 
sidered as approaching a test. The imposture is 
often of the baldest and grossest character ; yet the 
' medium ' is congratulated on the success of the 
seance, and credulous fools are happy. Perhaps the 
sitting is for ' materialized ' forms or faces. In such 
case the proceedings are regulated according to the 
character of the persons present. Should these be 
unknown, or regarded as possessing a fair share of 
common-sense, nothing goes well. The circle is de- 
scribed as ' inharmonious.' The cabinet is jealously 
guarded. A distressingly tiny ray of light having 
been introduced, ' materialization ' takes place. All 
that the persons present can perceive is something 
white. Shape or features there are none. If, how- 
ever, the audience consists of known and enthusiastic 
dupes, conditions are at once pronounced favorable. 
A large share of light is admitted. The form appears 
and moves about among the believers present. 
Their credulity rapidly mounts to fever heat. 
Patched and darned shawls are discovered to be 
' robes of delicate texture and surpassing gorgeous- 
ness.' A kerchief twisted round the head becomes 
an unmistakable turban. False whiskers and India 
ink produce ' a manly and noble face ; ' rouge and 
pearl powder, in conjunction with a skilfully 
arranged head-dress, are sufficient to send the credu- 
lous into raptures over the ' visions of surpassing 
loveliness ' presented. The familiarity of the spirit- 
ual visitors is charming. They have been known to 
seat themselves at the tea-table, and make a hearty 



THE TOTAL DARK SEANCES. 97 

meal, ' inquiring jocularly whether the muffins were 
well-buttered.' They have mixed stiff glasses of 
grog for the sitters, and, not satisfied with mixing, 
have themselves partaken of them. In such little 
reunions tests are never employed or mentioned. 
Not a dupe present but would rather perish than 
take a suspicious peep into the cabinet whilst the 
' materialized form ' is out, and moving about the 
room. Not one among the party but would rather 
have his hand cut off than grasp, in detective fashion, 
at the spirit-form. The spirit is in every respect 
at home, and may walk in and out of the cabinet as 
he or she pleases. 

" The darkness of the seance is proportioned to 
the sense of the sitters. Where scepticism is rife the 
most jealous precautions are adopted lest that scepti- 
cism should behold too much. To meet this con- 
dition of things various supposed tests have been de- 
vised. If they be of an inconvenient nature, the im- 
postor whom they are intended to unmask usually 
declines them. If, on the other hand, they appear 
such as may be eluded by jugglery or confederacy, 
they are at once accepted. The most common 
method is to fasten the medium by some means — 
often painful, and almost without exception imper- 
fect. Such tyings are simply useless. There is no 
binding submitted to by mediums to which profes- 
sional conjurers have not also been submitted. The 
feats accomplished by Maskelyne Cook and his part- 
ner, in the way of releasing themselves from ropes, 
etc., have been such as to drive certain credulous 
Spiritualists to a most audaciously foolish expedient. 
These persons had again and again put forth jubilant 
utterances respecting the rapidity with which pet 



98 KEY TO GIIOSTISM. 

mediums of theirs were released by ' the spirits ' from 
their bonds. Maskelyne and his partner proceeded 
to yield to a tying at least equally severe, and they 
released themselves with even greater rapidity. 
Some enthusiast, jealous for the reputation of his 
favorite medium, lighted on what was considered a 
happy idea. The amazed jugglers were gravely con- 
gratulated on the excellency of their physical medium- 
ship. Denial availed nothing. In spite of all they 
could say, print, or prove, rabid credulity con- 
tinues to rejoice over them as ' the best of living me- 
diums for the production of strong physical mani- 
festations.' Surely Spiritualism must have fallen 
very low, when a couple of professed conjurers are 
hailed as its best exponents." 

Mr. Home gives us the following as a sample of the 
exposures : 

" Exposures occur with great frequency. One of 
the most decisive was reported in the Daily Courier 
of Christmas Day, 1S75. After describing the ' man- 
ifestations ' witnessed at previous seances, the Courier 
thus narrates how matters went on the evening of 
the catastrophe : * Several gentlemen had formed a 
very strong opinion as to the utter imposture of the 
whole thing. There was but one chance remaining, 
and that not availing, the Spiritualists would have 
achieved a great result. However, the fates were in 
the other direction, and the spirits themselves must 
have played against the spirit conjurers. The eager 
circle gathered together for a final manifestation. 
The stock-broker was there, hoping probably to get 
some augury that would help in his speculations. 
The master - carterish individual was also present, 
drinking in the wonders with great relish. There 



THE GHOST CAUGHT. 99 

likewise was the clapper young gentleman who had 
come in his gymnasium dress, laboring, it is be- 
lieved, under the delusion that the gigantic spirit 
was that of a noted ex-pugilist named King, with 
whom he was eager to have a set-to ! 

THE GHOST CAUGHT. 

" ' Near the cabinet sat a strange man in specta- 
cles. The occurrences of the evening were varied. 
Poor Old Joe and the John Brown Chorus brought 
forth a baby-spirit, believed by the sceptical to be 
nothing more than a newspaper sheet. Shortly after- 
wards a trifling discord marred the harmony of the 
circle. Some one having tampered with the gas, 
manifestations were interrupted for a time, but har- 
mony was restored, and the baby-spirit came again. 
The end, however, approached. A tube of paper 
was handed out, presumably by a spirit, and then 
came the form of John King — first, as if attentative- 
ly selecting his position, and eventually appearing 
full at the aperture in the curtain. This was the criti- 
cal moment ! The strange man in spectacles bounded 
like a panther towards the cabinet, and made a 
grab at the spirit. The w^hite draper}'', or whatever 
it might be, was seen to shrivel up, as if vanishing 
away. Gracious heavens I could it be a spirit after 
all ? was the question that overwhelmed for a mo- 
ment the minds of the spectators. But, at the same 
instant, the brawny person already described as a 
master carter sprang from his seat, and seized the 
medium on the left-hand side, so that the hapless 
impostor was thus caught in a vice. A howl of ter- 
ror escaped his lips, and, as the gas was being turned 
on, another conspirator against the spirits made a 



lOO KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

dash at the cabinet, and brought the whole arrange- 
ment to the floor. The medium was handed out, 
and disclosed a most ludicrous make-up. About two 
yards of tarlatan were arranged round his head 
turban-wise, and covered him in front down to the 
thighs. On each leg was tied loose a newspaper — both 
copies of the Daily Courier — and these served as the 
spirit's pantaloons. In the full blaze of the gas-light 
they remained like the top-boots of a brigand in a 
melodrama. When dragged into the light the terri- 
fied medium was still clutching one end of the strips 
of tarlatan, doubtless thinking his spirit dress would 
be some protection to him against the violence of the 
sceptics." 

THE EDDYS CAU3HT AT LAST. 

So many of these spiritualistic materializations 
have been thus detected and the frauds exposed, that 
for some time the tricksters have not attempted their 
repetition in public. But the temptation to make 
money by the exhibitions was too strong even for 
the "honest Eddy Brothers," who have so long 
carried on their deceptions without being detected. 
They have been caught at last, however, as the 
following telegram from the New York Herald will 
show : 

SPIRITUALISM EXPOSED. 

A MediTim Detected. Personating the Spirit of an Indian Chief. 

Great Consternation among the Believers. 

North Adams, Mass., October 14, 1S79. 
Last Saturday Webster Eddy (one of the celebrat- 
ed Eddy Brothers) and his sister, Mary Eddy Hun- 
toon, came to this village for the purpose of holding 
a number of spiritualistic seances. They held their 
first one on Saturday evening, at their boarding- 
house on State Street,' to which several of our promi- 



THE SPIRIT MATERIALIZED. lOI 

nent cilizens were invited, among Ihem the Rev. Dr. 
Osborn, pastor of the Baptist church. On Saturday- 
evening they held their second meeting at the resi- 
dence of Mr. Sherwin, in Iloughtonville. Monday 
evening they held their third, and, it is hoped, their 
last in the village. The Spiritualists of North Adams 
embrace a large number of influential citizens, such 
as John F. Arnold, candidate for Lieutenant-Gover- 
nor on the Butler ticket last year ; Sheriff Hodgkins, 
Contractor Sherwin, and many others of prominence. 

The better portion of the community had become 
somewhat disgusted with these spiritual manifesta- 
tions, as well as with their demoralizing effects upon 
those who believed in them, and it was decided to 
expose the Eddys, if possible. A committee of fif- 
teen, with the Rev. Dr. Osborn at their head, under- 
took to detect the trick ; and, to carry out their 
plans, they arranged every minute particular care- 
fully. 

Officer Joel E. Hunter and Sheriff R. G. Walden 
were engaged to stand outside the door and to enter 
at the instant their names should be called, to arrest 
the medium, Mrs. Huntoon. John H. Mabbett was 
the man selected to seize the medium, on her appear- 
ance as a spirit. 

THE SPIRIT MATERIALIZED. 

At length she came out in the guise of an Indian 
chief. Mabbett jumped for her, grasped her by both 
wrists, and held her tightly. Her brother, who was 
sitting near, endeavored to release her ; but Mabbett 
hung on and called the officers. In an instant the 
door was opened, and a " dark lantern" presented 
by Officer Walden exposed the whole matter. Officer 
Walden had a warrant in his possession for the arrest 
of Eddy and Mrs. Huntoon, but it was thought best 
by all concerned to let them off, if they would quit 
the town at once. It would be impossible to de- 
scribe the consternation pictured on the faces of the 
believers. They were simply confounded. 



I02 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 



THE MEDIUM'S EXPLAHATIOK. 

Mrs. Huntoon acknowledged before the audience 
that " Mabbett" caught hold of the Indian spirit 
outside of the cabinet, and her explanation was that 
the Indian emanated from her, and after it had been 
seized returned to her ; consequently Mabbett had 
Mrs. Huntoon in his arms after the light was turned 
up. 

Dr. Osborn visited one of their seances on Satur- 
day evening last, for the purpose of getting points 
for the exposure last night. The Spiritualists are 
very much exercised, and say that they shall hold 
more meetings in town, under the direction of Eddy 
and Mrs. Huntoon ; but if they do they will be 
arrested. There has not been so much excitement in 
town for years. 

A WOMAN SUSPEKDED BY MAGNETISM. 

The astonishing power of mental magnetism not 
only to move and suspend inanimate objects, but 
human beings, is now being exhibited in various 
cities by Professor Philion. Mrs. Emma Philion, his 
wife, is made to sleep horizontally in mid-air, five 
feet from the floor, her head resting upon her arm and 
her arm upon the top of a rod about one and a half 
inches in diameter, the lower end of which rests in 
a hole in the floor. She takes her stand upon a stool 
between two such rods as the one described, upon the 
top of which her elbows rest. She is then magnetized 
to sleep by her husband, which occupies about five 
minutes. The stool is then removed from under her 
feet, leaving a space between them and the floor of 
about one foot. One of the rods is then removed, 
the arm placed by her side, and she hangs perpen- 
dicularly in the air. She is then moved in a hori- 
zontal position by her husband, her arm still resting 



A WOMAN SUSPENDED BY MAGNETISIM. IO3 

upon the top of the single rod, with her head reclin- 
ing on it. She thus hangs suspended upon her side, 
with her face turned toward the audience, in quiet 
sleep, of which she knows nothing. 
' In this exhibition there are no wires or pulleys, of 
which every one in the audience is convinced, the 
Professor taking one of the rods and passing it in 
every direction around the suspended body. After 
all are satisfied, she is again lowered into a standing 
attitude, the other rod placed in the floor, her arm 
again placed on it, when the stool is placed under 
her feet. She is then demagnetized, bows pleasingly 
to the audience, and retires. 

We may observe that this is no dark seance, but 
all the lights shine brilliantly in the hall. 

The lady weighs about one hundred and thirty 
pounds ; and while thus suspended the attraction of 
gravitation is completely overcome. Were the rod 
upon which her head rests fastened into a scale, she 
would not probably weigh twenty pounds. Indeed, 
both rods have been removed, and she left hanging 
in the air without touching an object ; in which case, 
of course, she would weigh nothing. 

The science of this phenomena we have already 
explained. Gravity consists in the attraction of the 
atmosphere to the earth and by it. This is called 
atmospheric pressure, which is fifteen pounds to the 
square inch. The bulk and density of the earth be- 
ing so much greater than those of the atmosphere, 
gives all bodies on its surface this superior attractive 
force to the earth. 

In order to suspend this woman it was necessary 
to charge her with electricity, or magnetism, fifteen 
times higher than that of her normal condition. 



104 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

This makes her as positive as the earth itself ; and as 
two positives resist each other, she hangs in the air 
just, where she is placed. Now if she should be 
charged higher than this degree, say sixteen pounds 
to the square inch, she would of herself, without a 
touch, rise from the floor to the ceiling, or to that 
locality where she would be in equilibrium with the 
attractive force of the air ; and until demagnetized 
would there remain suspended. 

Reasoning from small to great bodies, this experi- 
ment shows magnetism to be the force by which the 
planets in the solar system and the sun itself are held 
suspended in their several places and orbits. 

The suspension of the pith balls by the galvanic 
battery illustrates the same scientific principle ; 
showing also the identity of mental magnetic agency 
and that of the mineral emanating from the batter3^ 
Here we see again how beautifully facts of natural 
science harmonize, and in this case leaving no room 
for the supposed work of mysterious spirits. But it 
is an easier method for thoughtless people to refer 
all phenomena to mysterious spirit-causes, hence its 
popularity. 

As Mr. Home's book thus exposes the great mass of 
the so-called materializing phenomena of Spiritual- 
ism as the result of gross fraud, perpetrated by the 
collusion of the mediums and their manipulators, it 
somewhat narrows down our task in accounting for 
many of its pretended marvels. Such exposures may 
satisfy some that all its phenomena are the work of 
trick and deception. It will never convince others ; 
and we are free to confess ourselves to be among this 
number. The apparent honesty of Mr. Home in 
making the exposures, and the testimony of his 



THE TELEPHONE AND THE HUMAN EAR. 105 

friends who witnessed the manifestations through liis 
own mediumship, it seems to us, forbids the idea of 
collusion, and in our opinion is as unsatisfactory as 
that it is the work of the spirits of the dead. 

As we have assumed that all the real phenomena 
of Spiritualism result from living minds acting upon 
each other, and are therefore but the highest form of 
physiology and mental philosophy, we must avail 
ourselves of all the corresponding phenomena and 
facts with which we are acquainted, including the 
latest developments. 

We have already endeavored to prove the position, 
from the philosophy of Memory, that every object 
with which the mind grapples leaves its image per- 
manently traced on the brain. As additional evi- 
dence we wish to refer here to some of the very latest 
acquisitions of art and science, and which seem to 
leave no ground for further questioning the fact that 
human intelligence results from physiological organ- 
ization. 

THE TELEPHONE AND THE HUMAN EAR. 

The first of these we mention is what is called the 
Telephone. This consists simply of a speaking and 
hearing tube, attached to each end of a wire. These 
are made of a funnel-shape, or like a hearing- 
trumpet. Whatever is spoken in one is heard in the 
other, though miles distant from each other. We 
have heard a quartette sung in one of these, and 
every word and sound communicated to the other 
end, and that too over a single wire. Here are four 
voices passing simultaneously over a single wire, and 
each peculiarity of the music conveyed with perfect 
distinctness. 



I06 KEY TO GIIOSTISM. 

If a crude machine like this is thus susceptible, 
how much more so can we conceive the auditory- 
nerve to be to convey the sounds struck upon the 
drum of the ear to the brain, resulting in all the 
intelligence derived from sound ? 

THE PHONOGRAPH. 

Another of these inventions and discoveries is 
produced by what is called the Phonograph. It is a 
machine which repeats the words spoken or sung 
into it, as naturally and audibly as though it were 
another human voice. It consists of a brass cylinder 
of about three inches in diameter and six inches 
long, lying horizontally in a frame, having a crank 
attached to one end, by which it is turned slowly 
around while the speaking is going on. Into the 
cylinder is a groove cut of about one sixteenth of 
an inch, like the thread of a screw or a worm-feed, 
covering the entire surface of the cylinder. The 
thread about one eighth of an inch apart. A slide 
travels in front of the cylinder, like the carriage of a 
lathe, corresponding with the speed at which the 
cylinder is turned. The slide carries a wire of 
about two inches in length, just as a lathe-head 
carries the turning tool. One end of this wire is per- 
mitted to play up and down in the groove while the 
machine is in operation. Before operation the whole 
surface of the cylinder is covered with tin-foil. On 
the opposite end of the wire is fastened a speaking 
tube. The sounds spoken into this sets the wire 
vibrating, perhaps three or four times during the 
pronunciation of each syllable of a word. The 
vibrations make indentations into the tin-foil corre- 
sponding in depth and shape to the strength and 



THE PHONOGRAPH. lO/ 

peculiarity of the sound at any point of the syllable. 
After the speech is made, or song sung, the slide is 
drawn back from the cylinder and it is turned back to 
the point at which it started when the speaking com- 
menced. The point of the wire is now placed on the 
tin-foil over the groove, and another tube is placed 
upon the one on the wire, with its mouth turned 
outward toward the audience. There is a spring 
attached to the wire which draws the point down 
into the indentations made by the sounds, and they 
are of such a tapering shape that they force it up as 
they pass the point. The cylinder is then turned in 
the same manner as at the first. The point of the 
wire now moving up and down throws the air into, 
vibrations, speaking back the words just as they were 
made by the organs of speech, and repeats the same 
words and sings the same notes as were spoken or 
sung into it — and so audibly that a hundred persons 
can easily hear and understand them. The tin-foil 
may now be taken off the cylinder and laid away any 
length of time, and then replaced and the crank 
turned as at the first, and the machine will speak or 
sing the same words and make the same music. 

Another fact in relation to these wonderful phenom- 
ena is, that a speech may be made and a song sung 
one after the other, and the impressions consequent- 
ly made the one upon the other, and it will repeat 
the speech and song both at once, so that you can 
distinguish each just as well as you can the speech 
or song of two individuals if performed simultane- 
ously in your hearing. In this particular the Pho- 
nograph seems to be a little in advance of human 
speech, as no one can make a speech and sing a song 
at the same time. 



I08 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

If these indentations are examined by the micro- 
scope, they are found each to have a shape peculiar 
to itself ; or, in other words, each sound of the 
human voice is shown to make an image on the tin- 
foil peculiar in shape to itself. From these facts we 
have the conclusion, that as the machine reproduces 
the speech of man from the impressions it made in its 
reception, and that by a mechanical arrangement, it 
is the same organic principle upon which the ear re- 
ceives external sounds and imprints them upon the 
brain, ready to be repeated by audible speech at any 
future time, or the intelligent ideas which they repre- 
sent seen at any time by mental reflection. 

This principle is in accordance with the mechan- 
ism of all art and nature, that that which produces 
the same result is substantially the same cause, 

MODERN ART ILLUSTRATED. 

If we take into account the mechanism of the 
steam Type-setter — the manuscript printer — the 
Telephone, and now the " Speaker" combined, we 
have at least an approximate conception that, to once 
print on the brain the phonetic characters to repre- 
sent the elements of human speech, the number of 
which does not exceed fifty, and the eight notes of 
music, we have the images in depression or relief of 
all the peculiar sounds capable of being made, to re- 
produce which certainly involves no more compli- 
cated machinery than to produce them. In other 
words, the mechanism that speaks is no more com- 
plicated than that which hears, which the " ma- 
chine-speaker " demonstrates by doing both. We 
have only therefore to suppose that the brain com- 
bines substantially the mechanism of these machines, 



MODERN ART IIJ.USTRATED. lOQ 

and we have the philosophy of two of the greatest 
human endowments, speech and memory. 

The conclusion is also irresistible, that if the images 
derived through the sense of hearing are thus perma- 
nently traced upon the brain, so likewise are those de- 
rived through the mechanism of all the other senses. 

We have already shown that the mechanism of 
photography is copied from the optical organs of 
human vision ; and if this art produces permanent 
pictures of the objects placed before it on plates pre- 
pared for their reception, so does the mechanism of 
the human eye upon the plates of the brain. 

As these phenomena are those of mind, and as 
mind belongs to the voluntary department of organ- 
ized man ; and if it is a fact that one individual can 
by a word or mental effort obtain the entire control 
of the volition of another mind, and his locomotion, 
that the latter has the power to produce any impres- 
sion on the brain of the former he pleases. In other 
words, the power to use the mental organization of 
the one has passed into the possession of the other, 
for the time being. It also proves that the agency 
by which the will compels the organs to move — as 
that communicated to the " speaking-machine" by 
turning the crank — has passed from the one to the 
other, so that the latter can speak, hear, see, taste, 
smell, or feel only as the former wills. It is as 
though a steam-engine was run by the exhaust steam 
received from another, and not directly from the 
boiler. The former throws the electric agent of his 
own mind by his will into the brain of the other, and 
the talking goes on, just as it does by turning the 
crank of the " speaking-machine." 

As the whole operation is the result of the organic 



no KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

brain of both the first and second of these individ- 
uals, and as the spirits of the dead have no such 
brain, they are therefore incapable of using the brain 
or organic mind of a living human being. It is also 
essential that lungs should exist and be employed, to 
give the air they contain the impulse which is fash- 
ioned into the image, or conventional signs of that 
image, of the object to be conveyed while passing 
through the throat and mouth, in order to make 
audible speech possible. Or if it is done by the will 
on the part of the first, still this is the result of a 
resolution passed by the mind ; and as the lungs are 
essential to give the organic brain the power to 
think, and as the spirits have no lungs, they are still 
incapable of communicating electric power to com- 
pel another mind to think or speak, or to manifest 
themselves through human beings, and much less by 
the motion of inanimate bodies. 

As electricity is the agent of the mind by which 
man makes all his voluntary motions, dispatched 
through the nerves by the decision of the will, in- 
cluding that by which the will and its control passes 
to that of another, it becomes important that we 
should understand its nature and the laws by which 
it is governed. 

DR. FRAKKLIK'S THEORY OF ELECTRICITY. 

The theory of Dr. Franklin is unquestionably cor- 
rect, " that all terrestrial things contain a certain 
quantity of this subtle fluid ; and that its effects 
become apparent only when a substance containing 
more or less than the natural quantity is brought in 
contact. This condition is effected by the friction of 
an electric. Thus, when a piece of glass is rubbed 



DUI'UY S THEORY. Ill 

by the hand the equilibrium is lost, the electrical 
fluid passing from the hand to the glass ; so that the 
hand contains less and the glass more than its ordi- 
nary quantity. These conditions implying the (com- 
parative) presence or absence of electricity, and con- 
stitute the negative and positive." 

We may suggest a simpler experiment to illustrate. 
Let any individual walk over a new parlor carpet, 
shuflling their feet for a few minutes, and then touch 
their finger to a gas-burner with the gas turned on, 
and it will immediately light. Or by thus charging 
themselves and touching the flesh of another, they 
will receive a sensible shock as from a battery. 

EUPUY'S THEORY. 

Dupuy's theory supposes two kinds of electricity, 
called the vitreous and resinous, because the former is 
obtained from glass and the other from resin ; cor- 
responding to the negative and positive of Franklin. 
"This theory is illustrated by the fact that two 
pith balls placed near each other, and touched by an 
excited piece of glass or sealing-wax, repel each other ; 
but if one of the balls be touched by the glass and 
the other by the wax, they will attract each other." 

We adopt both of these theories, because there are 
phenomena connected with the science of electrics 
which cannot be accounted for upon either alone. 
The theory of Dupuy cannot account for the fact in 
animal electric phenomena that a powerful electric 
man cannot magnetize a very weak female, while such 
a female can so magnetize the most powerful man — 
even throwing him into the deepest trance — and by 
a mental decision completely control all his powers 
of volition. And also that the most powerful can 



112 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

produce no apparent effect upon the weakest, nor the 
weakest upon the strongest muscular man. This 
fact shows that Franklin's theory has no application 
here. One in whose nervous system is the largest 
quantity cannot magnetize one who possesses the 
smallest. Yet here is the strongest negative and posi- 
tive upon the principle of quantity ; and according 
to the invariable law of electrics, the negative and 
positive come together and affect each other. But 
here Dupuy's theory applies with scientific precision, 
so that the individual susceptible of this control has 
his nervous system charged with negative electricity 
in kind, and can be controlled by all those whose 
nerves are charged with positive electricity, whether 
these are weak females or strong males ; and we may 
add that experience has shown that the proportion of 
the negatively charged are only about eight per cent 
of mankind. From this class, however, come all the 
familiar spiritualists or mediums of the world. 

LAWS GOYERHIKG ELECTRICITY. 

The law governing electrics is, first, that two posi- 
tives resist each other and also two negatives, 
whether of quantity or quality ; while the negative 
and positive attract each other. Electricity is the most 
powerful decomposing agent in all nature. Comstock 
says : " Before the discovery by Galvani of the exist- 
ence of animal electricity, or its modification as 
connected with minerals, called ' galvanism,' after the 
electrician's name, most if not all the chemical effects 
of the galvanic battery Were produced by electrici- 
ty — such as the decomposition of water — long before 
the discovery of galvanism ; but since that important 
event the decomposition of the alkalies, and, as a 



CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF ELECTRICITY. II 3 

consequence, other discoveries of great value, have 
been effected. 

" One of the most extraordinary facts belonging 
to the agency of galvanism is, that elements of de- 
composed bodies follow an invariable law in respect 
to the electric sides on which they arrange them- 
selves. Thus, in decomposing water, or compounds 
containing its elements, the hydrogen escapes at the 
negative pole and the oxygen at the positive. In the 
decomposition of salts or other compounds, this law 
in every instance is observed, the same kind of ele- 
ment being always disengaged at the same pole of 
the battery." — Chemistry, p. 71. 

The fact that electricity in the decomposition of 
substances carries off their peculiar properties ex- 
panded into its own nature, demonstrates it to be 
composed of as solid atoms of matter as the sub- 
stances themselves. In fact its nature becomes mod- 
ified in its very essence by every form of matter 
which it decomposes, showing that it has as many 
shades of quality as there are different chemical sub- 
stances in nature. 

CHEIIICAL COMPOSITION OF ELECTRICITY. 

That electricity will decompose every other sub- 
stance, shows it to be endowed with the negatives for 
all positives, and positives for ail negatives. This 
also gives us the conclusion that if there were a suffi- 
cient quantity and variety of quality of electricity 
charging our planet, every thing it contains, as well 
as the mineral planet itself, would become simple 
electricity. It is these positive, negative, and chemi- 
cal properties which adapt electricity to be a uni- 
versal agent, moved by all minds in proportion to 



114 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

their order of greatness, and to which all the motions 
and material phenomena of the universe are to be 
attributed ; but which supposes the existence of a 
Being possessing mind and will, frorri whom it 
received these wonderful functions. 

POWER OF MENTAL MAGIIETISM. 

That inanimate bodies may be moved and intelli- 
gently governed by this mental agency, without 
human contact — and which is ignorantly supposed 
to be the work of departed spirits — thousands of 
people have witnessed. For the benefit of those who 
have not seen them, we here copy from a paper read 
some years ago by Dr. Bell, as a report of a com- 
mittee on the subject, before the Superintendents of 
the Insane Hospital of the City of Boston, which was 
published in the Amei-ican Journal of Tnsanity. 

Dr. Bell commenced by expressing surprise at 
finding that " although the previous year so large a 
number of persons were investigating the reciprocal 
influences of mind and body, scarcely a single mem- 
ber had bestowed a moment's attention on a topic 
directly in their way, which, whether regarded as an 
epidemic, mental delusion, or as a new psychologic 
science, was producing such momentous effects upon 
the world ; whose adherents are now said to number 
over two millions, with an extended literature, a 
talented periodical press in many forms, and which 
had taken hold of many minds of soundness and 
power. I am aware that many are disposed to cast 
ridicule on those who were engaged in investigating 
the so-called spiritual phenomena, and especially, 
when it was being prosecuted seriously by hospital 
directors ; but if there were any class of men who 



THE "EXPERIMENTUM CRUCIS." II5 

had duties in this direction it, was ourselves. Our 
reports contain the record of many cases of insanity 
said to have been produced by it. It was important, 
therefore, tliat its precise length, breadtli, and nature 
should be studied, as it is well known that mystery 
always loses its terrific character when boldly met 
and exposed to the light of day. 

THE " EXPERIMEMTUM CRUCIS." 

" On returning from Washington I had a peculiar 
wish to verify my previous observations on witness- 
ing what are technically known as the physical man- 
ifestations of the new science. I could not, however, 
doubt my former personal observations, addressed 
to my senses of sight, hearing, and touch, and sepa- 
rated, as I believe, from any possibility of error or 
collusion ; and yet the offer made by Professor Henry 
of a large sum of money to any person who would 
make one of his tables in the Smithsonian Institute 
move, and the obvious incredulity of many of the 
brothers, had produced an ardent desire to witness a 
full and unequivocal experiment of this character. An 
opportunity was not long wanting. On the occasion 
a well-known gentleman, long connected with the 
insane, who had never witnessed any of these phe- 
nomena, was invited to accompany me to a family 
where a medium of considerable power was visiting. 
The family was one of the most respectable in the 
vicinity, the head of it being a gentleman with whom 
was intrusted millions of dollars of other people's 
money, as the financial manager of a large banking 
institution, who, with his wife, had been for years 
perfectly convinced of the spiritual character of these 
manifestations. 



Il6 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

" The medium was a young lady of about eighteen 
years, of a very slight figure, and weighing between 
eighty and ninety pounds, who had discovered her- 
self to be a medium while visiting these distant rela- 
tives. A family of such character and position in 
society was beyond suspicion or any thing like irregu- 
larity, collusion, or fraud. We were so fortunate as 
to find the medium at home, and the circle was com- 
posed of the five individuals named. The ordinary 
manifestations of raps, beating of musical instru- 
ments, and responses to mental questions were 
remarkable on this occasion, as well as the move- 
ments of the table under the contact of mere finger- 
ends. 

" Finding circumstances so favorable for an exhibi- 
tion of more astonishing things, I proposed to try 
the great experimentum crucis of moving the table 
without human contact. I arranged things to suit 
myself, beginning by opening the table wider than 
common and inserting two movable leaves, increas- 
ing its length to about ten feet. This gave me an 
opportunity clearly to discover any wires or machin- 
ery which might have been attached to it, as well as 
to enable me to answer positively as to their non- 
existence. The table was a solid structure of black 
walnut, with six carved legs and casters attached to 
them, and of such great weight that I could but just 
move it by a full grasp of the thumb and finger of 
both hands. 

" The persons stood three on the one side and two 
on the other, with a space between them and the 
table of about eighteen inches. Being tall, I had no 
difficulty in seeing between the table and all the per- 
sons present. At a request the table commenced its 



THE " EXPERIMENTUM CRUCIS." U/ 

motion with a moderate speed, occasionally halting 
and then gliding along a foot or two at once. It 
seemed to me that its motion would have been con- 
tinuous if the hands above it had followed it in the 
same position which they occupied at the first. On 
reaching the iron rod on which the folding doors 
traversed, which projected a half or three fourths of 
an inch from the level of the carpet, it rose at once 
over it, entering the other parlor, through which it 
passed, until it came near a pier-glass which stood at 
the opposite side of the room. At a request, the 
motion was reversed, and it returned until it again 
reached the iron rod. Here, however, it stuck, 
although it hove and creaked and struggled, but all 
in vain — it could not surmount the difficulty. 

" The medium was then impressed to .write ; and 
seizing a pencil, hastily wrote that if the forelegs 
were lifted over the bar, they (the spirits) thought 
they could push the others over, which was accord- 
ingly done, and the motion continued. Once or 
twice during the movement of the table, I requested 
the whole circle to withdraw a little further from it, 
in order to see how far the influence would extend ; 
and it was found that when a greater distance was 
reached (say two feet) the movement ceased, and a 
delay of three and four minutes occurred before it 
commenced, conveying the idea that, if broken off, 
a certain reaccumulation of force was necessary in 
order to put it again in motion. 

"The table finally reached the upper end of the 
parlor from which it started, about four feet from the 
meridian line of the room. I expressed my gratitude 
to the company for the very complete exhibition with 
which we had been favored ; but remarked that it 



Il8 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

would be enhanced if the spirits would move the 
table about four feet at right angles, so that the 
chairs would come right again for their late occu- 
pants ; which was immediately done. The perform- 
ance was so perfect and satisfactory, that nothing 
more was asked on that occasion. This [remarked 
Dr. Bell] was the sixth time I have seen tables move 
without human contact, and all under circumstances 
apparently as free from suspicion as those just 
described. I might have stated that the table 
travelled on this occasion over fifty feet. A sagaci- 
ous clergyman of extraordinary perception took this 
medium home with him, where she had never been 
before, and, in the presence of his family alone, one 
of his own tables was made to go through the fullest 
locomotion without human contact." 

SCIEHTIFia PRIKCIPLE OF THE PHEKOMEKON. 

In order that we may understand the natural prin- 
ciple upon which tables are thus moved, we must 
remember that there is a column of atmosphere of 
fifteen pounds to the square inch pressing upon the 
whole surface of the earth. It miist also be remem- 
bered that if a square inch of the air becomes per- 
meated with electricity, and in part or wholly dis- 
placed, it forms for the time being a comparative 
vacuum, and makes that portion of air of less than 
fifteen pounds pressure. It is also a fact that such 
vacuums are produced in nature by slow degrees. 
For example, a very dense cloud becomes surcharged 
very rapidly, because absorbing the electric rays of 
the sun by not letting them pass through it. When 
this reaches a certain degree, it is discharged in the 
shape of lightning to a cloud less highly charged ; 



SCIENTIFIC PRINCIPLE OF THE PHENOMENON. I I9 

but a cloud of less density is only charged to a de- 
gree that may find its cquilil)rium b)^ a correspond- 
ingly slow process, and without the flash. 

A medium is one whose whole mental electric force 
by which she performs volition in an assembly has 
passed from her mind and will to some one else in 
the company, who therefore controls it, either con- 
sciously or unconsciously. Here, let us suppose, is a 
l)arty assembled, among whom is such a negative in- 
dividual called the medium, and it is an appropriate 
name ; but she is the medium between the spirits or 
electric powers of the other members of the com- 
pany, and not those of the dead. The concentration 
of all the minds present now become fixed upon the 
medium and the table to be moved. No sooner is 
this done than the electric agency of all the minds 
present become agitated and put in motion, acting 
by expectation directly upon the mind of the medi- 
um, producing upon that mind the absolute im- 
pression that the object sought will be accomplished. 
If the mind of the medium had not lost the power to 
reason and act independently, such an absurd idea 
would not be entertained, and she would have rea- 
soned, I cannot move the table unless I take hold of 
it ; and in such a case she would not have been a 
medium. The entire mental force is thus concen- 
trated and conducted through the nerves of the arms 
to the finger-ends. If these arc in contact with the 
table, the communication is unbroken, and it is 
readily moved ; but if not touched, the intervening 
air serves as the conductor of the mental force. By 
this electric force the air above and around the table 
becomes so electrified that its pressure is neutralized, 
or balanced, counteracting the specific gravity of 



120 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

the table ; consequently requiring but the slightest 
degree of force to suspend or move it in any direc- 
tion, as well as to compel it to perform intelligent 
locomotion. 

Let us suppose that the top surface of the table 
has but one pound of its atmosphere neutralized by 
the mental electric force thus thrown upon it, leav- 
ing fourteen pounds above and fifteen pounds 
beneath it. Do we not see that the table must move 
upward as certainly as that fifteen pounds put in one 
scale and fourteen in the other will preponderate in 
favor of the former ? And do we not also see that if 
the mental force is concentrated on any one side of 
the table, that its motion will be in the direction of 
the vacuum thus produced ; and as the table moves 
and the circle with it, so does the vacuum, by the 
continual displacement of the atmosphere by the 
electric mental agency ? The fact that the table is 
compelled to perform intelligent locomotion has its 
explanation-in the other fact, that the electric mental 
agency by which the medium performed her own 
locomotion had passed from her to the table : for it 
is one of the commonest features of these phenomena 
that when the mediums go into the trance they have 
lost all voluntary control, if such be the wish of the 
controller ; and it is a fact that the limbs of the 
medium are no more parts of their mind or will than 
are the legs of the table. Neither is the pen in a 
man's hand a part of the hand ; and yet it performs 
intelligent action by the electric agent received from 
the mind. That one man can throw another into the 
trance state and compel him to perform every act by 
a mere mental effort as obediently as he can his own 
limbs, everybody knows ; and surely the second man 



SLATE WRITING. 121 

is no part of the mind of the first. If one man, there- 
fore, can be comi)ellcd to act according to the unex- 
pressed will of another — in his normal state having 
the power to resist — how much more so may a man 
thus compel an inanimate table, having no power of 
resistance, to act according to his will ? Now if the 
table is made to perform intelligent acts in these 
phenomena by human influences and according to 
the reciprocal and electrical laws of minds upon each 
other and upon such objects, then is it not absurd to 
attribute any other phase of Spiritism to the ghosts 
of dead people ? 

SLATE Y/RITII-ia. 

That the application of this principle to what is 
called Slate Writing may be seen, let us briefly con- 
sider the phenomenon. 

A double slate is produced which he who wishes 
to make the experiment may purchase new for the 
occasion. A small pencil is put within the two 
slates, and they are closed and held firmly together 
in the hands of the one making the test. Of course 
this is in the presence of the medium. This is con- 
sidered a better test than though the slate lay upon 
the table without being touched by a human hand, 
from the fact that it seems impossible in such cir- 
cumstances that trick would be available ; although 
legerdemain accomplishes just such tricks, equally 
deceiving the senses of sight, hearing, and touch. 

On the supposition that it is a spirit who takes 
the pencil and thus writes, it must be a material 
person ; for the only opposites to material persons 
are immaterialisms, which, if they exist, are unable 
not only to move the pencil, but the smallest parti- 
cle of the most sublimated ether in the universe. 



122 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

This is a fact of natural science as well known and 
invariable as that of universal gravity. If therefore 
a spirit took the pencil and wrote, it was a material 
intelligent person, and as such was endowed with all 
the organs of life and volition. But the space occu- 
pied by this individual — for it was not a child, be- 
cause manifesting the intellect of an adult — was 
about one fourth of an inch in height. 

It is another well-known fact of physiology that, 
outside of certain limits, the smaller the brain the 
smaller the intellect ; and that a certain amount of 
brain is indispensable to the possession of the least 
intellect. The spirit supposed to be within the two 
slates could not have been larger than a medium-sized 
fly, and yet this insignificant being possessed the 
physical power to take a piece of rock larger than 
itself and write an intelligent communication ! 

Another fact claimed by Spiritualism is that when 
the spirits materialize themselves into palpable sub 
stance, they are uniformly of the same size as when 
living in the flesh. Hence, according to their own 
premises, no spirit was ever between the slates, and 
thus wrote. Physiology says that to dwarf a human 
being to such dimensions v/ould deprive it of the least 
intelligence — not even that of a fly ; and that so soft- 
ening its brain would put an end to all thought. 
How much further removed must the material spirit 
be from intellectual exercise and manifestation, 
which has survived the dissolution of the organic 
man, and become so ethereal and light in texture, 
that it did not reduce the weight of the dead man a 
single ounce ? 

It may be said that the spirits do not personally 
go into such small spaces as those between the slates, 



"IN AND OUT OF THE FORM." I23 

but send their mental agency to accomplish the 
work. In answer we remark, that it only removes 
one of the fatal objections — that of the size of the 
spirit — while that of its ethereality remains un- 
shaken. Besides, it cannot be claimed that the un- 
seen spirits move inanimate objects, such as the slate- 
pencil, by an indirect mental force without per- 
sonal contact, for the Spiritualists tell us that when- 
ever they materialize themselves and move such 
objects, the hand is seen and felt in contact with the 
thing. " The hand of a man was seen carrying the 
rose across the table, from one lady to the other." 
" The hand of the child was felt by the lady who put 
the handkerchief upon her lap," as narrated in Mr. 
Home's book. Indeed, direct contact is the univer- 
sal claim in the phenomena of the so-called material- 
izations. Therefore the material, intelligent person 
never thus wrote. And it is no more proper to call 
it a spirit than a man ; for the advocates of the 
theory clothe it, or him, with the palpability of 
every organic faculty and function of living men — 
the only difference between them before and after the 
separation consisting simply in the density of the 
matter which forms them, 

"Iir AND OUT CF THE FORM." 

The phrase commonly employed by the Spiritual- 
ists to describe the two persons after the separation 
called death takes place, is " in and out of the form." 
But this is shown by their own testimony to be as 
untrue as it is absurd ; for as the spirits are held to 
be matter, they necessarily have form, as all modifi- 
cations and quantitives of matter have some kind of 
shape or form : and that it is the precise form they 



124 I'^EY TO GHOSTISM. 

had before the separation they declare to be a fact so 
palpable, that when they materialize themselves their 
friends know them by their size and features. 

Admitting the fact that this little pencil within the 
slates really moves, and writes a communication 
known only to some one living and to one dead, it 
no more follows that it was written b}'' the pencil in 
the hand of some one out of the form, than that a 
table moves intelligently from place to place in a 
room without personal contact, and even writes 
names legibly upon the floor ; or that a smaller table 
upon a larger one thus writes. I enter the room of 
the medium with the double slate in my hands, with 
the pencil within, for the purpose of making this test. 
My mind may be fixed upon nothing in particular at 
the time. The medium goes into the accustomed 
trance and reads familiarly — though ignorant of how 
the information is obtained — some circumstance pic- 
tured upon my brain, known only to myself and my 
dead friend, and returns what is read to me as a 
communication from this dead friend. Without a 
word being spoken, the mental electric force of the 
medium seizes the pencil and writes the facts upon 
the slate, according to the philosophic and scientific 
principle already explained. 

A remarkable instance of this writing was men- 
tioned to me by a Spiritualist not long since, to the 
effect that he had known a communication to be thus 
written, about which no one living in the form had 
any knowledge — certainly no one present on the oc- 
casion. Our answer was, " Then it was fictitious. 
The medium drew upon some one's imagination ; just 
as we can compel mediums to write any nonsense we 
please, by a mere desire or act of will, without speak- 



MIND READING. 1 25 

ing a word or making a significant gesture to them. 
If they wrote that which no one in the form knew, 
how can it be shown that the writing was done by- 
one out of the form ?" 

" TRY THE SPIRITS."-! John 4 : 1. 
In order to test the ability of the spirits to see and 
know things beyond our earth and within the solar 
system, just let them find a new planet or satellite, 
and show us its place among the stars, so that we 
may find it ; for some have been discovered since 
modern spirits began to roam the air, but not b}'- 
their aid. Let them go to the sun and ascertain the 
nature of her spots, measure their size, etc., and give 
astronomers such a diagnosis as will satisfy their in- 
quiries, as well as those of naturalists, in regard to 
the effects the spots produce upon the temperature of 
the globe. Let them employ their superior knowl- 
edge, and tell us all about the supermundane sphere, 
and be useful to mankind, instead of making foolish 
revelations to those who know them already. 

MIND READING. 

Another department of the phenomenal intelli- 
gence connected with this mental science is, that one 
mind possesses the power to read that of another, and 
therefore to disclose what the other knows. All the 
spirit communications miide by the mediums is read 
from the brain of living men, and then returned to 
the same individual or others, as communications 
from the spirits of the dead. 

We have already shown that the picturesque 
imagery of all the objects which have impressed the 
mind and engaged its attention, and the knowledge 



126 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

derived from thinking about them, are traced upon 
the brain, and are imprinted there by the electric 
agency of the nerves and brain ; so that if the mind 
of one individual obtains control of the electric 
agency of another, it can read the impressions on the 
brain of the other just as vi^ell as those upon its own 
brain. In fact, for the time being, the two minds 
become one. 

Another fact of importance to be considered in re- 
lation to this mental science is, that according to the 
laws of electricity the negative and positive come in 
contact, and by their neutralization become one ; but 
if the contact is of similar kinds, it is only tempora- 
ry, and each again separates and seeks its own equi- 
librium in quality. It must also be remembered that 
the positive is the controlling power. Another fact is 
that as one individual obtains the control of all the 
volition of another when both are in these electric 
conditions, that it also includes the intellectual facul- 
ties. By the application of these principles it is easy 
to see that when two such' individuals come in elec- 
tric contact, the negative electric agency of the one 
receives the positive electric agency of the other, 
neutralizing that of his own, and subjecting him to 
the control of the other — the positive ; and of course 
all the phenomena it was capable of effecting in his 
own organization has passed from himself to the 
other. It is also as obvious that the control of the 
mental agency of the negative by the positive has 
opened up a medium of electric communication by 
which it passed from the negative to the positive, 
giving the ability to the negative to look into the 
brain of the positive and read from it all its images, 
ideas, and imprinted knowledge. It is only an ex- 



REAL rilENOMENA OF MR. HOME'S BOOK. 12/ 

tension of the ability to read his own mind by recall- 
ing the images of past events for present purposes. 
In a word, all the knc)wledge of the positive mind 
becomes as familiar to the negative as that of his 
own. Hence the philosophy of ancient Spiritualism, 
as well as the Spiritualism of our day ; and indeed 
which have been common to all ages. It is thus that 
the Spiritualists obtain their knowledge from the 
mind of the inquirer, and return it to him as com- 
munications, visions, and revelations from the spirits 
of the dead. 

REAL PHENOMEIIA OF MR. KOT.IE'S BOOK. 

After the repeated exposures by Mr. Home of 
fraudulent materializations, he gives us the follow- 
ing narratives of the phenomena or manifestations 
which took place through his own mediumship, the 
first of which occurred in Hartford, Conn. : 

" At the time in question, the medium who bears a 
principal part in the ensuing history [meaning him- 
self] was staying in Springfield, Mass., confined to 
his bed by a severe attack of illness. His medical 
man had just paid his customary visit. Hardly was 
the door closed upon the doctor when a spirit made 
known its presence to his patient, and delivered the 
following message : ' You will take the afternoon train 
to Hartford, It is important for the present and 
future welfare of yourself, as well as for the advance- 
ment of the cause. Ask no questions, but do as we 
direct." The occurrence was made known to the 
family, and the medical man was recalled and con- 
sulted. ' Let him go,' said he, on finding his patient 
determined to act in conformance with the message 
received. * His death will be on his own head. ' The 



128 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

medium went, unconscious of the import of his jour- 
ney, and not knowing what its end would be. As he 
got out at Hartford, a stranger came up to him. ' I 
never saw you but once,' said this gentleman, 'and 
then only for a moment ; but I think you are Mr. 
Home.' The other replied that he was indeed the 
person in question, and added, ' I have come here to 
Hartford ; but for what reason I am perfectly igno- 
rant.' ' Strange,' said his interlocutor ; ' I was wait- 
ing here that I might take the next train to Spring- 
field in quest of you.' He then explained how a 
well-known and influential family had become desir- 
ous of investigating the subject of Spiritualism ; and 
were anxious for a visit from the very medium whose 
departure from Springfield had taken place under 
such peculiar circumstances. Here, then, was a 
foreshadowing of the object of the journey. What 
had yet to happen rested however in as much mys- 
tery as before. 

"After a pleasant drive, the residence of the 
family alluded to came in view. The master of the 
house was by chance at the door just then, and thus 
gave the first welcome to a guest whom he had not 
expected before the morrow at the soonest. The 
medium entered the hall, and as he did so, a sound 
resembling the rustling of a heavy silk dress struck 
on his ear. He naturally glanced round, and was 
surprised to see no one. Without making any allu- 
sion to the incident, he passed on into one of the sit- 
ting-rooms. There he again heard the rustling of the 
dress, and was again unable to discover any thing 
which might account for such a sound. It would 
seem that the surprise he felt was depicted in his 
look, for his host remarked, ' You seem frightened. 



REAL niENOMENA OF iMR. HOME'S BOOK. I 29 

What lias startled you ?' Unwilling to make much 
of an affair which rnight after all prove explica- 
ble by quite ordinary means, the other replied, that 
having been very ill, his nervous system was un- 
doubtedly out of order ; but once reposed from the 
fatigue of the journey, he would feel more at ease. 
Hardly were the words uttered when, looking back 
to the hall, the mediupi savv standing there a bright, 
active-looking, little elderly lady, clad in a *heavy 
dress of gray silk. Here, then, was an explanation 
of the apparent mystery. The medium had heard 
the movements of this member of the household, but 
had missed catching sight of her until now. 

" Again the dress rustled. This time the sound 
was audible both to the medium and to his host. 
The latter inquired what such a rustling might mean. 
' Oh ! ' said the medium, ' it's caused by the dress of 
that elderly lady in the gray silk, whom I see in the 
hall. Who may she be?' — for the appearance was 
one of such perfect distinctness that he entertained 
not the slightest suspicion of the little old lady being 
other than a creature of flesh and blood. The host 
made no reply to the question asked him, and the 
medium was diverted from any further remark on 
the subject by being presented to the small family 
circle. 

" Dinner was announced. Once at table, it sur- 
prised the guest to see no such person as the lady 
in gray silk present. His curiosity became roused, 
and she now began seriously to occupy his thoughts. 
As we were leaving the dining-room, the rustling of 
a silk dress again made itself audible to the medium. 
This time nothing could be seen, but he very dis- 
tinctly heard a voice utter the wonls, ' I cun dis- 



130 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

pleased that a coffin should have been placed above 
mine. What is more, I won't have it ! ' This strange 
message was communicated to the head of the family 
and his wife. For a moment the pair stared at each 
other in mute astonishment, and then the gentleman 
broke silence. ' The style of dress,' said he, ' we can 
perfectly identify, even to the peculiar color and 
heavy texture ; but this regarding a coffin being 
placed on hers, is at once absurd and incorrect.' 
The perplexed medium could of course answer noth- 
ing. That speech on quitting the dining-room had 
been his first intimation as to the old lady of the 
gray silk having passed from earth ; and he was not 
even aware in what relation she stood to his host. 

"An hour slipped by. Suddenly the self-same 
voice came once more, uttering precisely the same 
words. This time, however, it added : ' What's 

more, S had no right to cut that tree down.' 

Again the medium made known what he had heard. 
The master of the house seemed greatly perplexed. 
' Certainly,' said he, ' this is very strange. My 

brother S did cut down a tree which rather 

obstructed the view from the old homestead ; and we 
all said at the time that the one who claims to speak 
to you would not have consented to his felling it, 
had she been on earth. The rest of the message, 
however, is sheer nonsense.' Just before retiring the 
same communication was a third time given ; and 
again the assertion as to the coffin was met by an un- 
hesitating contradiction. The medium went to his 
room feeling greatly depressed. Never before had 
an untrue message been received through him, and 
even were the statement correct, such close attention 
on the part of a liberated spirit to the fact that 



CHILDISH NATURE OF SPIRIT REVELATIONS. I31 

another coffin had been placed above hers seemed 
ridiculously undignified. Golden crowns, spotless 
raiment, endless harpings, any thing or every thing 
was preferable to this. He thought of the occurrence 
the whole sleepless night. [Wc may just remark, 
that of the great mass of the so-called spirit revela- 
tions we have heard, nine tenths of it are as ridicu- 
lous and foolish as this coffin affair.] 

" The morning arrived, and the medium made 
known to his host how deeply the affair had affected 
him. The other replied that he was himself ^ust as 
sorry, and added, ' I am now going to convince you 
that if it were the spirit it purports to be, it is sadly 
mistaken. We will go together to the family vault, 
and you shall see that, even had we desired to do so, 
it would be impossible to place another coffin above 
hers. 

" Host and guest at once proceeded to the cemetery. 
The sexton was sent for, since he had the key of the 
vault in question. He came, and proceeded to open 
the door. As he placed the key in the lock, how- 
ever, he seemed to recollect something, and turning 
round said in a half apologetic tone : ' By the way, 

Mr. , as' there was just a little room above Mrs. 

's coffin, I have placed the coffin of L 's baby 

there. I suppose it's all right ; but perhaps I should 
have asked you first about it. I only did it yester- 
day.' Never has that medium forgotten the look 
with which his host turned to him, and said, ' My 
God ! it is all true.' 

CHILDISH HATURE OF SPIRIT REVELATIONS. 

"The same evening the spirit once more made 
known her presence. ' Think not,' ran the message 



132 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

now delivered, ' that I would care were a pyramid of 
coffins to be piled on mine. I was anxious to con- 
vince you of my identity once and forever — to make 
you sure that I am a living, reasoning being, and the 

same E that I always was. For that reason 

alone I have acted thus.' 

" He to whom her visit was chiefly directed has 
since joined her in another world. His deeds were as 
noble as his nature, and his whole career was purity, 
unspotted by any taint of wrong. Some of the best 
of Am'erica's sons and daughters gathered around 
the bier of one whose life and death was felt to add 
another to the many proofs that ' fhe actions of the 
just smell sweet, and blossom in the dust.' Spiritu- 
alism was to him a glory and a joy. He had tested 
it, and knew it to be real. Yet he was never deluded 
into enthusiasm or easy credence. With the whole 
strength of his manly intellect did he winnow the 
wheat from the chaff, casting away whatever was 
worthless, holding firmly to the good and true. 
Now he rejoices in the reward of the course that he 
ran on earth. Having outsoared the shadow of our 
night, he can behold clearly things which are dim 
to mortal eyes. A message communicated by him 
shortly after his departure from our world is so 
characteristic, that I have determined to print ex- 
tracts from it. The remaining portions relate to 
family affairs, of which the medium through whom 
the message was received could by no possibility 
have known any thing, and which served to relatives 
as excellent proofs of the identity of the author. 

" The message is as follows ; and we see how much 
this intellectual mind, while on earth, is still in the 
dark. Indeed, there is only one thing about which 



. CHILDISH NATURE OF SPIRIT REVELATIONS. I 33 

he is sure, and that is simple existence. But why he 
exists is enshrouded in haze. [Poor inducement to 
go to such a world or home.] 

" ' Well, A , it's the same old story ; and 

whether we tell it on earth or from the eternal home, 
it comes to just the same thing, and has exactly the 
same mystery attached to it. I had hoped to soh'ca little 
more of this, but bless you I rather feel that it is 
even now further than ever from me. I am confident 
the knowledge will eventually be mine ; but will it 
benefit you and those who are still on earth ? Is it 
not rather a natural or spiritual influx [a queer way 
to get knowledge!] adapted only to the condition of 
the identical spirit, and hence utterly unfitted for 
another ? I am for the moment inclined to this view 
of the matter. I am no longer surprised at the lack 
of distinctness. From my point of view it is perfect- 
ly clear, but to make it so to others is quite another 
question. / avi j ive are : but the why and the 
wherefore remain still enshrouded in the haze of the 
great unexplored future.' 

[Before this man w^ent away he professed to ktimv — 
by the spirit communications such as that relating 
to the coffins — that he would exist in another world ; 
but now he says it is a great revelation he has 
received in the future world, that he exists ! This 
would seem to cast doubt on the spirit revelations 
he received while on earth. Besides, what an absur- 
dity that a man should have received a revelation 
that he exists ! What would a man think were I to 
stop him in the street and tell him " I have a won- 
derful revelation to make — which is, \\\i\\. you exist ''T^ 

" ' It is, however^ a great revelation to know that 
we exist ; for existence betokens activity [another 



134 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

wonderful discovery — that live men move !] and 
must include the development or unfolding of w^is- 
dom. [Another scientific error ! for wisdom comes 
from thinking about and comparing objects of the 
outer world, and is not developed or unfolded from 
within a man.] All this is an incentive to well-doing 
in every stage of existence. [Who did not know 
that before ? Why make a revelation of that which 
every youth knows ?] I have seen those I loved, and 
the recognition was mutual : no hesitancy ; no 
shadow of doubt. [What a marvellous thing this is 
to make a revelation of ! What little things there are 
in the spirit world to communicate! " I met a loved 
friend, and I knew him, and he knew me." This he 
knew when a child.] 

SPIRITS SEE KO PERSONAL GOD. 

" ' I have seen no personal God. [It is the philo- 
sophic and scientific error of the Spiritualists, that 
nature does not reveal the existence of a personal 
God, And as it was this man's theory, and his family 
knew it, the medium read it from their minds and 
returned it to them in the shape of a revelation from 
their dead friend.] What I may see, I know not. I 
lift up my thoughts in prayerful praise to a great and 
benign Creator, for I feel assured that a creative and 
harmoniously-constructed Power does exist ; but 
what that may be, is not as yet made clear to me. I 
wait to be taught ; but, in being taught, I must also 
ascertain why development stands side by side with 
a higher perfection, known, as the two are, as Good 
and Evil. Does the same power produce both ? 
This, and maijy questions of a like nature, I am ask- 
ing just as I used to ; only I hope now to have them 



MR. HOME IN FLORENCE. 1 35 

made clear. [Here we sec that his benign Creator 
was Plato's principle of Good. Whatever was good 
in the world was to be attributed to the principle of 
good, and what was evil to the principle of evil ; 
but that both were of iiaiiii\\ and not a personal God 
before nature, who made it.] If I can frame in 
clcarly-to-bc-understood language the replies I have 
(or rather the knowledge I gain', I will give them 
t(j you. Of one thing I am already certain : I am !— 
all unchanged.'" — D. D. Home, \v\. Lights and Shades 
of Spiritualism^ pp. 446—452. 

MH. HOME III FLORENCE.* 

In the episode which furnishes a subject for this 
concluding chapter of my work I am fortunately 
able to give every name, date, and circumstance 
necessary for the complete authentication of the facts 
recorded. Those who have formed no idea, or but 
an imperfect one, of what a spiritual seance really 
is, may enlighten themselves by consulting the 
following narrative. They will find no magnified 
trifles in confirmation " strong as Holy Writ ;" no 
false glare of enthusiasm, no wealth of credulity, 
and no want of tests. A simple statement of events 
is made, exactly as those events occurred. That the 
narrator to whom the spirit world was thus unex- 
pectedly brought so close should have been rendered 
happy with complete certainty of the existence of 
that world, and that the possibility of communion 
between its inhabitants and ourselves was the 
natural result of the perfect evidence of identity 
which the loved ones whom she had lost accorded 
her. 

The lady in question, and the author of the follow- 
ing account, gives me full permission to publish her 
name and address. I thank her much for the cour- 
ageous course she has taken, impelled by a high 

* The remarks in brackets are our own. — Ed. 



136 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

sense of duty which I could wish were more common 
than popular prejudices upon the subject of Spiritu- 
alism have rendered it. She is Madame La Com- 
tesse Caterina, of Florence, As her narrative has a 
completeness and an interest to which no words of 
mine would add any thing, I need say no more. It 
is the countess who now speaks. 

" The evening of July 7th, 1874, I had the good for- 
tune to be present at a seance given by Mr. D. D. 
Home. His celebrity is so extended, and his posi- 
tion and high moral worth are so thoroughly recog- 
nized by a very large circle of friends, whose stand- 
ing in society renders it impossible for even a breath 
of suspicion to rest upon their testimony, that any 
attempt to portray him here would be superfluous. 

" We seated ourselves, towards 8 p.m., around a 
large table belonging to the hotel where Mr. Home 
was staying. The persons present were the March- 
ioness Bartolomei Passerini, Mrs. Webster, the 
Chevalier Soffietti, Mr. Mounier, Mrs. and Mr. D. D. 
Home, and myself. The table about which we were 
grouped stood in the centre of the drawing-room. 
In a corner of the apartment, and quite away from 
the company, was a second table, small, and square in 
shape. Two wax candles stood on the table where 
we were seated, and on the other and smaller 
one was placed a petroleum lamp. The lamp and 
candles together rendered the room perfectly light. 
Madame Passerini and myself were on either side of 
Mr. Home ; she to the right, I to the left. Whilst 
seating ourselves, and before Mr. Home had done 
so, a singular tremulous motion of the table became 
perceptible, to which I, who had placed my hand on 
the surface, called attention. The motion continued 
to increase until it was distinctly felt by all present. 
Then the table rose ; first one side lifting itself from 
the ground, and then another, until this had been 
done in every direction. Rappings commenced, and 
were in some instances very loud. They sounded, 
not alone on the table, but in various parts of the 
room, on the floor, and even on the chairs. At last 



MR. HOME IN FLORENCE. 1 37 

five distinct but tiny raps were heard directly under 
my hands. Mr. Home said that this was an indica- 
tion of tlie alphabet being required, and commenced 
to repeat it, whilst another of the party wrote down 
the letters at which the rappings came. My aston- 
ishment may be conceived when I found the name 
of ' Stella ' given in this manner. 

" I was an utter stranger to Mr. and Mrs. Home. 
They had been but a few days in Florence, and had 
heard my name for the first time when an hour or 
two before a friend asked permission for me to be 
present at the seance. And now was given in this 
strange manner a name most precious to me — that 
of a dearly-loved child who, at the tender age of five 
years and ten months, had been torn from me after a 
few days of cruel suffering. [Mr. Home read all this 
from her mind, and she thought it a spirit communi- 
cation.] Time had elapsed since her passing from 
earth, and in my dress there was nothing to indicate 
the mourning of my bereaved heart. I spoke, asking 
whether it could be that God in His mercy allowed 
the angel once so entirely and fondly mine, but now 
forever freed from earth and its sorrows, to be near 
me. A perfect shower of gladsome little raps was the 
instant response. I then begged that, if it were 
indeed my child, her age at death might be given. 
It was at once rapped out correctly. My strained 
attention bent itself with all the eagerness of mater- 
nal love on those sounds — sounds which brought as 
it were faint echoes of the music of heaven to cheer 
my heart.* Tears, that even the presence of stran- 
gers could not restrain, coursed plentifully down my 
cheeks. I thought myself in a dream, and feared 
every instant that I would awaken, and the celestial 
vision vanish, leaving only an aching void. The 
rappings continued, and the alphabet was again 
made use of. The message this time was, ' You 
must not weep, dear mamma.' At the same time 

* What a conception of heaven ! To have her child with her 
would make it ! — Ed. 



138 KEY TO GHCSTISM. 

the handkerchief that I had taken forth to dry my 
tears, and which now lay before me on the table, 
moved slowly to the table-edge, and was then drawn 
underneath. Whilst this was passing, the form of 
my darling seemed to stand before me. I could dis- 
tinctly feel as it were the presence of her body, and 
the folds of my silk dress were disturbed, and rustled 
so as to be heard by all present. 

" But a few seconds had elapsed from the disap- 
pearance of the handkerchief when I felt what seemed 
to be the touch of a baby hand on my right knee. 
Almost instinctively I placed my own hand there. 
To my surprise, the handkerchief was at once laid in 
it ; and a little hand grasped mine, so perfectly cor- 
responding to the hand of the tiny form which the 
grave had hidden from me, that I felt my precious 
one and no other was beside me. [She was a good 
medium herself.] Would that the heart of every sor- 
row-stricken mother could be«gladdened with a ray 
of the deep joy mine experienced then ! I had not 
expected such a touch ; I had not been told that I 
might experience it, and therefore it could by no 
possibility be the phantasm of an overwrought imagi- 
nation. Mr. Home's name was, of course, one that 
I had heard before. I had heard of him, but had 
never read any details of his seances. On coming, 
therefore, to the one in question, my supposition 
was that we would be enshrouded in that utter dark- 
ness which I knew to be frequently demanded by 
those terming themselves mediums. Had I sat under 
such conditions the most palpable touch would have 
left no other impression on my mind than the suspi- 
cion of trickery. I sat in a well-lighted room, and 
could make full use of my eyes. Already, within the 
short space of half an hour, I had heard sounds which 
could not have been imitated by a number of electric 
batteries combined. I had seen movements of the 
table that even the confederacy of half the persons 
present could not under the circumstances have ac- 
complished ; and now came this thrilling touch. 

" I may state that when the table's movements 



MR. HOME IN PXORENCE. 1 39 

were most active, Mr. Home, placing a light on the 
floor, not only invited but urgently desired us to look 
under. So marked was the request, that even had 
curiosity not prompted us, good breeding would have 
necessitated compliance with the evident wish of our 
host. One and all obeyed, and saw the table lift 
from the floor, but nothing which could solve the 
mystery. 

" Our attention would seem to be over-concentrat- 
ed. For the space of several minutes manifestations 
ceased, and all was as void of spiritual presence as 
our ordinary everyday prosaic life. [Jt was not 
because of over-concentration, but the exhau^tion of 
the brain-batteries composing the seance.] We were 
roused by sounds proceeding from the smaller table 
which I have mentioned as standing in the corner of 
the room. All present saw it move slowly from its 
place, and approach the table at which we sat. 
Again rappings made themselves heard, and a second 
name— also that of one very near and dear to me— 
was spelt out by means of the alphabet. An accor- 
deon lay on the table. It did not belong to Mr. 
Home, but had been brought by one of the guests 
present. Mr. Home now desired me to take the in- 
strument in one hand, that it might be seen whether 
the spirits could play upon it. Hardly had I touched 
the accordeon when it began to move ; then sweet, 
long-drawn sounds issued from it ; and finally a 
military air was played, while I held the instrument 
and could see that no other person touched it. 

"The alphabet was here called for. This time, 
instead of the usual rappings on the table, the mes- 
sage was communicated through distinct movements 
of'my dress. The words were words of consolation 
and love, and their reference was to an incident 
known only to the nearest of my relatives, and which 
none of my fellow-guests at the seance in question 
could by any possibility have been acquainted with. 
Just after this communication had been made my 
eyes rested for a moment on a most beautiful rose 
worn by Madame Passerini. I said mentally, ' If you 



I40 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

are in reality the spirit you claim to be, I ask you to 
take that rose from Henrietta, and bring it to me.' 
The thought had hardly taken shape in my mind 
when a hand, visible to every one present — the large, 
nervous hand of a man — grasped the rose, and dis- 
engaging it, brought it to me, and placed it in my 
lingers. This was not done in darkness, or in a dim 
light. The room was well lit, the hands of every 
person present rested on the table, and there hovered 
in the air before us a hand as perfect in form as a 
human hand can be. Not only was it perfect in 
form, but it had shown its capability for physical 
action by the unfastening of the rose from the lace to 
which it had been securely attached, and the carry- 
ing it a distance of two or three feet. And further, 
that action indicated the presence of an intelligence 
able to comprehend a mental request, for I had not 
uttered a word. I grant most willingly that all this 
is strange, but I affirm most solemnly that it is true. 
We were in the presence of beings who could read 
our thoughts. [Yes, and that was Mr. Home, the 
medium, although he may have been unconscious 
of it.] 

" The names of those long since summoned from 
earth were given, and the most hidden things con- 
nected with their earthly lives recapitulated. Not to 
me alone did these things happen, but to every one. 
In some instances there had been even forgetfulness 
on the part of the persons addressed, and attendant 
circumstances were given, that the incident might be 
recalled. Thus Mr. Home, passing into a trance, 
said to the Chevalier Sofifietti, ' There is an old nurse 
of yours standing beside you — a negro woman.' The 
Chevalier could recall no such person. ' She says 
you ought not to forget her,' continued Mr. Home, 
' for she saved your life when you were but three and a 
half years old. You fell into a stream of water near 
a mill, and were just about to be drawn into a water- 
wheel when she rescued you.' Chevalier Sofifietti now 
recalled the whole, and acknowledged the communi- 
cation to be perfectly correct. He had been wholly 



MR. HOME IN FLORENCE. I4I 

unknown to Mr. Home till within three hours of the 
message being given, and not one of the remaining 
guests knew any thing of the incident in question. 
[It was not necessary for any other but the cheva- 
lier himself to have had the picture of the event im- 
printed on his brain, in order for Mr. Home the 
medium to read it there. But if others had known 
it, he could also have read it from their brain. It 
was thus he got his informatics, instead of from the 
spirit of the dead old woman.] I narrate this to 
show that others were, like m3^self, made happy by 
proofs of the continued existence of those dear to us. 
If, indeed, all these things be explainable by some 
hidden force or forces of nature, then God have pitv 
on the shipwreck of our hopes of immortality ! [If 
our hopes of immortality are founded upon such 
trifling things as these, it is difficult to conceive how 
they can be more fatally shipwrecked.] If they be 
dreams, then must our present also be a dream and 
our future but the continuation of that dream. 
Prove to me, or to any other present at that most 
memorable seance, that we were deluded, and I will 
prove to you that I have not written these words, 
and that you are not reading them. [Yes, Madam ; 
but that is not the point with us : for your delusion 
consists in the supposition that the phenomena is the 
work of the spirits of the dead, being ignorant of the 
real cause.] 

" As I have said, Mr. Home passed into a trance. 
After the communication to Chevalier Soffietti he 
addressed himself to me, and gave facts which not 
only could by no possibility have been previously 
known, but which were in some instances unknown 
to any person in the world save myself. [It was the 
only condition that she herself knew them. If a 
thing is written upon one brain, it may be read by 
the familiar spiritualists just as well as though it 
was upon every brain.] He told me he saw various 
members of my family. That he did in reality see 
them, I am unable to affirm ; but that he gave me 
their names, and most accurately described them, I 



142 KEY TO GIIOSTISM. 

do affirm. [Every person has his name written on 
his own brain, and which he knows by comparing 
any handwriting purporting to be his with it, 
whether it is his own or not.] ' Stella is present,' he 
said, 'and she says — . ' The words given need not 
be placed on record. To me they were most touch- 
ing and precious — to the world they would be un- 
meaning. I understood them, and greatly do I 
thank God that in His mercy he permitted them to 
be given me ; for they have made the burden of my 
life seem lighter [if she had been a Christian, her life 
would not have been a burden], and I can await now 
more patiently the joy of endless reunion with 
those I love. [Not a word about desiring to meet 
Christ !] 

" I will, however, give the conclusion of the 
message. My darling thus finished what she had to 
say : ' And I know, mamma, that you took the last- 
pair of boots I wore, and hid them away with my 
little white dress, in a box that you had ordered for 
the purpose. You locked them in that box, and 
when you are quite alone you take them out, and 
shed such sad, sad tears over them ! This must not 
be, for Stella is not dead. I am living, and love you. 
I am to tell you that you will have a very distinct 
proof of my presence, and that it will be given you 
to-morrow. You must not again open the drawer 
where the box is placed, which contains what you 
call your treasures, until you hear distinct raps on 
the bureau.' 

" Not even my family knew any thing of this box. 
I had kept the contents as to me most sacred relics, 
showing tViem to no one, and never by any chance 
alluding to their existence. Mothers who have been 
afflicted like me will alone be able to appreciate the 
sentiment by which I was guided. 

" The seance ended. I naturally wished to thank 
Mr. Home for having been the means of giving me 
so great a joy. He refused to accept my thanks, and 
said that he was simply an investigator like others, 
and just as deeply interested in the thorough exami- 



RECONCILED WITH OUR PRINXII'LE. ]/\^ 

nation of the subject as I or my friends could he. 
Tlie phenomena we had witnessed purported to be 
due to liis presence ; but he was, as we could well 
testify, simply a passive agent [no ! he was the sole 
actor] ; deep interest or a strong desire for phenom- 
ena on his part rather tending to prevent than to 
bring about manifestations. 

" Every thing had been foreign to my preconceived 
ideas. I had expected darkness, or, at the least, very 
little light ; and some kind of dictatorial arrange- 
ment called ' conditions.' I was most agreeably dis- 
appointed. Mr. Home showed himself even more 
anxious for thorough investigation than were his 
guests. He was a confirmed invalid, and had just 
undergone a course of severe treatment. He suffered 
from a nervous paralysis which rendered his limbs 
almost powerless. I think it well to mention these 
facts, having of late read of some of the extraordi- 
nary theories whereby persons ignorant of the sub- 
ject seek to show the world how the wonderful things 
occurring in Mr. Home's presence are accomplished. 
Mr. Home could not have moved a down pillow with 
his feet, and the large table at which we sat— and 
which, I may add, rose entirely from the ground 
more than once in the course of the evening — was an 
exceedingly heavy one. We all looked under the 
table when it became suspended in the air, and noth- 
ing whatever earthly was in contact with it. As to 
the hand, which all present saw, being a stuffed 
glove, I shall believe that when I have become con- 
vinced that the hand I now write with is a stuffed 
glove also." [By her own confession, they were all 
very credulous. ]~D. D. Home, in Z/V///^ am/ Shades 
of Spintualis7n, pp. 476-482. 

RECONCILED YUTYL CUR PRINCIPLE. 

We have shown that as real impressions are pro- 
duced upon the brain by all the objects with which 
the senses come in contact while the mind is awake 
and not engaged at the time with other matters, as 



144 I'^EY TO GHOSTISM. 

any that are taken by the photographic machine of the 
objects placed before its eyes. That this is as certain 
as that like mechanical apparatus produce similar 
effects. That sounds convey exact representations 
of objects, and imprint them on the brain, is demon- 
strated by the phonograph and the talking machine 
reproducing them. That this mechanical arrange- 
ment is confirmed by the fact of human memory. 
That these effects are by electrical and chemical 
agencies set in motion by human wills, reciprocally 
conveyed and received by each other. That any 
interference with the brain, nerves, organs of sense, 
or those of life, as certainly prevents these phe- 
nomena as they do by similar derangement in 
the photographic, phonographic, and telegraphic 
machines. We may also here remark, that when a 
man wishes to recall any thing to mind he does not 
look into his hand or foot or stomach, but in his 
head, for the image. Sometimes after long rum- 
maging among the pictures of the gallery he finds 
the one he wants. This picture may have been so 
long printed and its nature so unimportant that but 
a faint impression was made by its reception, and 
hence it required an urgent necessity to look it up, 
as well as the presentation of the most striking pic- 
ture of correspondence to recall it ; yet the features 
and circumstances of the former event to be recalled 
are so vividly revived by those now before his mind 
(like that o'f the old colored woman and the cheva- 
lier), that the supposed forgotten event comes fresh 
into view. While looking for the lost picture the 
electric agent of the mind was set in motion by the 
v/ill ; and it was the same agency employed in its 
original reception and production. 



RECONCILED WITH OUR TRINCirLE. I45 

It is a fact that one mind has tlie power of abso- 
lute control over another, compelling it to see, hear, 
feel, smell, and taste, and even think, just what the 
other wills ; and all this by mere mental effort, with- 
out speaking a word. These intelligent impressions 
thus conveyed and received by the two minds being 
virtually merged in one for the time being, prove 
that the one has the power to read the thoughts of 
the other. The one who holds the control of the 
faculties of the other is the positive in electrical and 
chemical relation, while the one controlled is the 
negative ; and as he acts and thinks, the other wills 
and knows, which demonstrates him to have the 
ability to see and read all the images of events, and 
hence to obtain all the knowledge of the other mind. 
From such facts can there be any thing more certain 
than that the negative, or medium, may return the 
knowledge thus obtained to the same individual, or 
others, as revelations from the spirits of dead friends; 
and, by not understanding this science and philoso- 
phy, honestly suppose spirits of the dead to be the 
originators of the communications ? 

In the conveyance and reception of intelligence 
by this principle, two distinct things are to be un- 
derstood. First : the medium being under the con- 
trol of the positive mind, is compelled to receive just 
the impressions and ideas the other wills, and has no 
power to act contrary to the determination or expec- 
tation of this other mind ; and that he being the posi- 
tive, cannot be thus acted upon or influenced by the 
negative, or medium. Second : that the positive 
must become passive, in order to enable the nega- 
tive, or medium, to read his mind ; and of course 
the more passive or submissive he is at the time to 



146 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

have his mind read, or to have the (supposed) spirit- 
ual phenomena manifested, the better is the medium 
able to read the brain, or, in spirit phraseology, to 
obtain more striking revelations. It will also be 
seen that the best mediums are the most extreme 
negative electrics. 

Another fact of great importance to enable us to 
understand this conveyance of intelligence is, that a 
medium may be put in communication with a third 
person, not in the house or in the country, by the 
mention of his name by some one present who knows 
him, or by the touch of a letter written by him. 
Thus by thinking of him he comes into communica- 
tion with his mind, so that the medium is able to 
read it just as though he were present. In such a 
case things may be told in relation to the acts, cir- 
cumstances, and the mind of the other, of which no 
one present knew any thing, and afterwards prove to 
be correct. 

ACTS COYERIHG THE WHOLE PHEKOMEHA. 

The two seances of which we have the account in 
Mr. Home's book cover the whole phenomena in 
modern Spiritualism ; and if we can account for all 
the facts which we are willing to admit are such, or 
appeared to be such to the narrators, upon the prin- 
ciples of natural science — and therefore the work of 
living, mortal men acting upon each other and upon 
inanimate bodies — then the idea that it is the work 
of supposed spirits who once inhabited bodies of flesh 
cannot be true. 

The subject divides itself into three parts. First : 
the intelligent communications made. Second : the 
motion of inanimate bodies ; and thirdly, the mate- 



SERIOUS QUESTIONS. I47 

rialization of a man's hand ; or, as Mr. Home saw 
them, living persons. 

In relation to the intellectual communications \vc 
must notice the fact that there was nothing revealed 
but things familiar to some one of the parties named, 
either present or absent, who were also connected 
with these transactions. Here is the limitation of 
the so-called spirit revelations. Thousands of test 
attempts have been made to foretell events, or to 
reveal those which have transpired unknown to any 
member of the seance, or to those of their acquaint- 
ance ; but with uniform failure. One correct guess 
out of a thousand failures offers no evidence to sensi- 
ble people. 

SERIOUS QUESTIONS. 
Why do not the Spirits Warn and Guard their Friends ? 

Spiritualism claims to be a great blessing to man- 
kind. Its advocates profess to be progressive, and 
to be doing much to advance human society. If the 
spirits know what is in progress or is contemplated 
in relation to their mortal friends — and it is held they 
can communicate what they know — then why do they 
not warn them of danger, or induce them not to 
hesitate in making a risk which would enrich them. 
for life ? Why not inform them that a certain pre- 
tended friend is a knave, and what precautions to 
take in order to avoid ruin ? If a friend is going to 
be robbed, why not inform him, so that he may have 
the police on hand to arrest the thief ? If he is going 
to be assassinated, why not avert the calamity, and 
have society relieved of the would-be murderer ? In 
a word, why should not his guardian angel-spirit in- 
form him of every good and successful enterprise 



148 • KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

which offers itself, and warn him to avoid every bad 
and losing speculation ? Every one has his guardian 
spirit ; and if they are not interested in spirit revela- 
tions themselves, the Spiritualists are so anxious to 
make converts — especially if they are wealthy and of 
the higher class — that whenever they lose a friend a 
seance is called and a communication is received from 
the living departed who was supposed to be dead. 

We repeat, if these spirits are able to make revela- 
tions of things which no mortal knows or ever has 
known — things absolutely future — and that those 
engaged in receiving such information are anxious 
for the best good of mankind, why do they not give 
the information which will result in the detection of 
every premeditated criminal act, and prevent the 
execution of crime ; and if it has been done on the 
impulse of the moment, why does not the guardian 
spirit of the sufferer enter some neighboring medi^im 
and expose the criminal ? Thus, almost at a blow, 
would the whole face of human society be changed ; 
for who would be found to commit a crime if he was 
certain it would be known the next day, and he be 
arrested for its perpetration ? It is said criminals 
have been exposed and arrested by this means ; but 
if we knew all the facts about these professed rare 
cases, we could trace them either to human suspicion 
or collusion, for the purpose of giving popularity to 
the dark art. 

If the Spiritualists say, by way of extenuation of 
this failure to do in every case or crime what they 
profess to do in a few, and would like to have done 
in all, that there are lying spirits at the other end of 
the telegraph, then there is a hundred-fold greater 
proportion of lying spirits in the other world than 



SERIOUS QUESTIONS. I49 

mortal spirits in this ; for the crimes brought to light 
by the revelations made between man and man in 
the mortal world are a thousand-fold greater on this 
side of the " dead line.'" It must also be remembered 
that there are at least two hundred of these unseen 
revealers to one mortal man ; and also that accord- 
ing to spirit doctrine they have all been growing 
better and wiser from the moment each entered his 
progressive sphere ; and that some of these have been 
thus developing for about six thousand years. Let 
us suppose we had human detectives six thousand 
years old, and on whom age had as yet left no mark ; 
who had enjoyed uninterrupted moral and intellect- 
ual development, without having been dependent on 
any one for any thing (as the spirits are, not eating, 
or being clothed) ; how many criminals would escape 
arrest and exposure ? Besides, if they are so univer- 
sally lying spirits when " out of the form " — to use 
the spirit phrase — able, but not willing to make 
truthful revelations, why should they be believed at 
all ? And, if in attempting to reveal things about 
which no mortal has any knowledge allied with the 
present world, where we may test them, but which 
are uniformly untrue, why should a single thing they 
say about the spirit-land be credited ? 

From such grounds can we come to any other con- 
clusion than that the spirits know nothing, and there- 
fore can reveal nothing which is not already known 
to living mortal men ? 

We have no fear or hesitancy in saying that not 
one of the spirits ever discovered a new invention of 
which the mediums knew nothing, or originated a 
new idea about any science or art. Benjamin Frank- 
lin, while connected with the mortal carcass, caught 



150 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

the electric lightnings from the clouds and bottled 
them up — the first lesson in telegraphy. Now, since 
being released from the earthly clogs which only 
acted as a bar to his disembodied thinking, why did 
he not at once perfect the great invention of the 
magnetic telegraph, and not leave it for Morse and 
House and other material mortals to achieve ? 

O Common Sense ! hast thou fled the world, and 
left men to credit these " lying wonders," this child- 
ish simplicity ? Of what advantage is it to men to 
be informed by these supposed wingless wanderers 
of space of what they already know ? In answer it 
may be said. We thus learn the fact of spirit exist- 
ence. But it is the existence of ghosts ; and who 
wants to be a ghost ? That the question is narrowed 
down to mere existence is certain from the nature of 
the revelations, which demonstrate that the spirits 
do not think and have not thought since they left 
their carcasses. 

The fact of existence is about the first lesson a 
child learns, and learns it very soon. But one of the 
spirits Mr. Home tells us about, who had left a very 
amiable and intelligent " mortal coil," shortly after 
his departure made a revelation to his friends ; and 
all he had really learned was " I am ; I exist." 
Every human being learns rapidly ; some faster than 
others. Every one originates thought. In the 
course of a life of threescore, some seem to know 
about all that is known. They have made great dis- 
coveries in science and art, or have made great and 
useful inventions. This is all the result of thinking; 
and this, too, as the Spiritualists hold, while the 
thinking principle has been only clogged and hin- 
dered in its operation by a material body. 



DO GHOSTS PROGRESS, AS IS CLAIMED? 151 



DO GHOSTS PROGRESS, AS IS CLAIMED? 

But now one of these men dies, or, as Shakespeare 
designates it, " shufiles off the mortal coil." Of 
course he is free from every impediment to thinking. 
He has now been in that state sixty years — the length 
of his earthly career. If this was Franklin, he should 
have been three times the electrician and statesman 
he was when he got rid of his material clog. But 
the fact is he has often been called to attend old 
ladies' seances, and could not talk except by the 
rapping alphabet ; and by any mode of revelation 
has not only utterly failed to give us any account of 
his new discoveries or original thoughts about those 
things in which he was most interested while a 
mortal, but he has never written any thing, either in 
style or originality, equal to his earthly productions. 
As surely as a man thinks (and he must think if he 
lives and is awake, as the universal history of man- 
kind witnesses), so surely he must obtain new ideas, 
make new discoveries, new inventions, etc., and be 
always anxious to make known this knowledge to 
others. But nothing of this has Franklin revealed in 
his spirit communications. On the contrary, he has 
shown himself inclined to attend seances at the bid- 
ding sometimes of little girlish conjurers ; and when 
there, to rap out by the alphabet how old he was 
when he died, and other such childish things. May 
we not ask what else this proves in regard to Dr. 
Franklin and the dead, except that they have not had 
a single thought since their demise ; and indeed that 
they have lost the memory of what they once knew, 
as well as their dignity ? For who could have 
induced Dr. Franklin, while a living mortal, to 



152 KEY TO GIIOSTISM. 

attend a seance of fortune-tellers, and to act as one 
of them in answering test questions about names and 
ages which they knew themselves, and other such 
silly things ? 

But in these communications intelligence is mani- 
fested and revelations are made of things which no 
one knows except a single person in the presence of 
the medium, and which are clearly made known to 
that person. If it did not come from the spirits, 
whence was it derived ? — or, to change the question, 
if it was not derived from some living and known 
adequate source, how could it come from some inad- 
equate source, because dead ? 

HOW MEDIUMS READ MESSAGES. 

The answer is, it is the medium who reads it from 
the brain of the inquirer, and returns it to him as a 
revelation from the spirit of the dead. The mediums 
or inquirers may not understand the scientific princi- 
ple involved ; and the mediums, at least, are the last 
who wish to be informed upon the subject, as it en- 
dangers the craft by which they make their living. 
The mediums have what was anciently called the gift 
of the familiar spirit, because able to glide secretly 
into the picture-galleries of other minds and read 
from their brain tableaus the images of every thing 
and event with which those minds had ever been in- 
terested. It is therefore the medium himself who is 
the spirit communicating these secrets of other 
minds. They are the actors and not mediums in the 
subtle business. 

If we would understand this science, there are two 
prominent facts to be considered, both of which we 
have ourselves repeatedly demonstrated, both public- 



now MEDIUMS READ MESSAGES. 1 53 

l}"^ and privately, in illustration of these phenomena. 
First, that one mind is under the perfect control of 
another while in the medium, trance, mesmeric, or 
magnetic state — all of which terms mean the same 
thing. The reason of the medium state, as we have 
already shown, is, that their nervous system is natur- 
ally charged with negative electricity or animal mag- 
netism, modified by its connection with the animal. 
By a touch of the finger or a decision of the will by 
others, these are thrown into, the trance state, or 
after a period of development they go into it of 
themselves, by only supposing their controlling spirit 
present, or by any notion they may entertain respect- 
ing this condition. While in the trance the mind and 
volition is under the absolute control of the individ- 
ual who has thrown them into it. They can see, 
hear, smell, taste, or feel only as the magnetizer wills 
or suggests. They drink water for wine, or milk for 
brandy ; and they produce the same effects as though 
they were real wine and brandy. Thej hear angels 
sing, and see their forms. They are made to speak 
in public, and to declare the beauty and truthful- 
ness of Spiritualism ; or by the will of the control- 
ling party, immediately to denounce it as the vilest 
humbug and nonsense. We have frequently com- 
pelled them to do so before large audiences. 

The other fact is that the mediums, being negative, 
have the faculty of gliding into the mental arena of 
him who is controlling them, and reading therefrom 
the brain pictures of what he knows ; and of course 
they are able to return them to the same person, or 
others, as spirit revelations coming from dead friends, 
and believed to be such, because known only to those 
while livini>: and themselves. 



154 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

OUR OWH EXPERIMENTS 

A short time since I was staying with a friend in 
New York who was acquainted with one of these 
mediums, who, at my request, invited her to spend an 
evening at his house. There were about a dozen 
persons present. The lady went into the trance, 
supposing her control (as the Spiritualists term it) to 
be the spirit of a dead Indian. That day I had 
passed through Union Square Park. The spring had 
been backward, but a few days of warm and beautiful 
weather had caused the foliage to appear in splendor. 
I stopped for a few moments to take a good and ex- 
tended view, drinking in its imagery, and then passed 
on, thinking no more about it. I took the lady by 
the hand as we sat facing each other, and requested 
her to look into my brain and describe what she saw, 
thinking of nothing in particular which I wished her 
to see. At first, and for a few moments, she said 
she saw nothing. I told her to look steadily and 
examine closely. In a few moments more she ex- 
claimed, " Oh yes ! I do see. Oh how beautiful !" 
"What is beautiful? What do you see?" "Oh, 
such beautiful foliage !" and she left the scenery as 
reluctantly as I did on leaving the park that day. 

About the same time, at another private house, I 
was invited to reproduce some of these experiments, 
there being about twenty persons present, a number 
of whom I tested, to ascertain their magnetic state 
and susceptibility to the control of my will. I finally 
found the son of the lady of the house to be thus 
perfectly subjective, although he was entirely uncon- 
scious of the fact until that time. All his senses and 
volition were under the most absolute control of my 



OUR OWN EXPERIMENTS. 1 55 

will. He could see, hear, smell, taste, or feel, or 
even think, only as my will permitted him. Then, 
as I relaxed this control and submitted my mind to 
his inspection, he read from my brain object after 
object which he saw pictured there, which no one 
knew but myself. By request, I went into another 
part of the house ; but before going I told the com- 
pany, unheard by the medium, that as soon as I had 
retired from the room he would see and describe a 
certain number of different animals in a certain 
order, which he did exactly as I had said he would. 

About the time of the Rochester knockings, or 
the Fox girls' manifestations, I delivered a course of 
lectures at Bangor, Me., showing that there were no 
spirits of the dead connected witli these phenomena. 
On making the tests to find these personal negative 
magnets from my audiences, I found, on one of these 
occasions, a man of about twenty-one 3'ears, by the 
name of George Frost, who was the best subject for 
these experiments I have ever met — especially for 
mind reading. By a mere touch of my finger he 
would be thrown into trance, but having his eyes 
open, and, to all appearance, in his usual condition. 
Before large audiences, and while we were standing 
twenty feet apart, I have requested any person to 
come forward and let me know, in a whisper or in 
writing, any object they wished to have him read 
from my mind and reveal to the audience ; and on 
every occasion the individuals would rise in their 
seats and declare it to be correct. On one of the 
papers handed me the word "lion" was written. 
As soon as my eye caught the word my subject read 
it, and seizing a chair for defence, ran through the 
hall c.\claiming "A lion ! a lion I" These cxperi- 



156 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

ments were continued until my audiences were con- 
vinced that one man could read from the brain of 
another whatever he knew, and return what he read 
there as revelations received from the spirits of the 
dead. 

Before the Fox manifestations commenced, animal 
magnetism was popularly practised, and an uncle of 
mine living in Albany became very much interested 
in it. He came in contact with a most perfect claii*- 
voyant, a colored man named John Brown, who had 
emancipated himself from slavery. In relation to my 
uncle I may say he v/as a most devoted student of 
the Bible, and when he heard Mr.. William Miller 
lecture on prophecy, his attention became more 
settled in that direction, until he became convinced 
we were living in the last period of the world's exist- 
ence, because he found the historic events of the 
world to have fulfilled the predictions of the proph- 
ets. My uncle being desirous that I should wit- 
ness the manifestations by this clairvoyant, brought 
him to my house at Lansingburg, N. Y, In the even- 
ing he magnetized him to sleep ; which was no sooner 
done than the sleeper sang a hymn ; after which he 
said, " Let us pray." Fie then prayed very fervent- 
ly, using elegant language and expressing clear and 
apparently original ideas, in strictly Scriptural phra- 
seology. He then gave us a lecture on prophecy, 
especially that relating to the coming of Christ and 
the end of the world. Before and since that occasion 
I have heard many such lectures, but never one 
which equalled that in sublimity and scriptural accu- 
racy ; and yet this clairvoyant could neither read nor 
write even his own name. 

Of this lecture, its matter or manner, the clair- 



OUR OWN EXPERIMENTS. 1 57 

voyant had no knowledge, and did not remember a 
word of it afterward. The sequel is easily told. He 
read it all from tlie mind of my uncle, but vastly 
excelled him in the manner of its delivery. At my 
uncle's request I magnetized the arm of this man, in 
order to show some friends of his its rigidity. It 
became" as hard and firm as an iron bar of the same 
size. Had my uncle been a skeptic and had thus 
magnetized this clairvoyant, he too would have been 
skeptical, and would have given us a transcendental 
lecture, perhaps on the beauties of the God of nature, 
confounding Him with it ; or such an one ixs Andrew 
Jackson Davis gives in his trances. 

Reading from the minds of the men controlling 
them, the mediums always do and must reflect their 
sentiments ; and if we take into account the fact that 
the supposed spirit mediums have generally been 
surrounded by skeptics of various shades, we see the 
reason why the Spiritualists hold Christ and the 
Bible in such low esteem. Had the Christian minis- 
try investigated these phenomena, instead of de- 
nouncing them as the work of the devil, and thus 
virtually conceding the principal claim of the Spirit- 
ualists, that they w^ere indeed the work of spirits, 
because there are bad as well as good ones, which 
induced thousands to go to their seances to see the 
devil perform. Had they shown its whole true phe- 
nomena to have their solution in mental and physi- 
cal science, instead of spiritual influences, all the 
untold evils which have resulted from it would have 
been averted, and the good utilized, in relieving it of 
much of its mystery by illustrating the power of 
mind over inanimate matter, and showing that as a 
human endowment it must have been dcsioned fur 



158 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

good, although, like every other faculty of man, it 
may be prostituted to evil. 

EFFECT OF WILL UPOH A' CIRCLE. 

At the time I was engaged in experiments with 
Frost and others, I was detained while passing 
through Boston, and with him received an invitation 
to attend a circle, now called a seance. It was in the 
house of a private family. Though strangers to me, 
they were to all appearance of the higher class in 
society. A number of its members were mediums — 
children from ten to fifteen years of age. The circle 
was formed around a centre-table in the parlor. It 
consisted of the family, the gentleman who invited 
us. Frost, and myself. It was in the evening, and 
just after a thunder-shower, which was said to favor 
spirit manifestations. The mode of communication 
was by the use of the alphabet, which had to be 
commenced and repeated until a letter was reached 
in spelling the word being communicated. At the 
mention of the right letter a slight rap would come 
on the table. Each member of the circle asked ques- 
tions and received answers with remarkable accuracy 
and rapidity as was expected. I excused myself on 
the ground of merely wishing to witness the phe- 
nomena, fearing my unbelief would be detected and 
I be ejected from the presence of the sensitive and 
stubborn spirits. When the second round was com- 
menced I determined to block the wheels of the 
spirit chariots. I fixed my will upon the circle, re- 
solving there should be no more intelligent revela- 
tions. Consequently not another word was spelled 
so that it could be understood, though for nearly an 
hour strenuous efforts were made to connect the 



CONSULTING A CLAIRVOYANT. 159 

spirit wires ; but occasionally there would come a 
slight rap. I then fixed my mind and will exclusive- 
ly upon the single inquirer, intending that no re- 
sponse should be heard ; after which not a rap was 
given. This was simply mental effort on my part. 
Had I informed the company of my antagonism, it 
would have weakened their power of concentration, 
and correspondingly increased our own in the sup- 
pression of the manifestations. Let an ccjual number 
of those who understand these phenomena to be the 
results of mind opposing mind and reciprocally act- 
ing upon each other, determine to oppose each other 
during a seance, and not a spirit manifestation will 
be made. This fact shows that either the supposed 
departed spirits are such poor weak things that they 
can be deprived of all their ability to communicate 
with mortals, or that the whole business is between 
mortals, by a mere act of mortal will. 

CONSULTIHG A CLAIRVOYANT. 

At the commencement of these investigations I 
went with a number of my friends to consult a first- 
class clairvoyant, living on Green Island, opposite 
Troy, who had quite a reputation for describing and 
curing diseases. The husband of the clairvoyant 
magnetized her, to make the examinations. I re- 
quested to have a child of mine examined who had 
lost the use of the shoulder joints by the relaxation of 
the muscles, resulting from brain fever, of which fe- 
ver he had recovered. The moment she saw him, or 
rather saw his picture upon my brain, her arms drop- 
ped as though they had been struck by paralysis. Of 
course she described the whole difficulty of the child's 
limbs just as accurately as I could have done, because 



l60 KEY TO GIIOSTISM. 

she read from my brain just what I knew about it. 
This was clairvoyance, and no one thought of its 
having any connection with the spirits of the dead ; 
yet the intelligence obtained and communicated by 
the mesmerized clairvoyant was just as accurate 
through intelligent speech by the medium as any 
given by the Spiritualists through the foolish and 
childish use of the alphabet and rappings, such as 
the bill of a little bird would make in picking crumbs 
from a table. Thus we see that Spiritualism has 
even belittled and degraded " animal magnetism." 

In examining one of my friends, she told him that 
his back had been injured in being struck by the 
swinging of the boom of a vessel about fifteen years 
before, which was true. She also accurately related 
other things connected with his history which no one 
knew but himself. 

WHAT A CLAIRYOYAHT SEES. 

Mediums can see the vital organs of the physical 
system, and describe disease and derangement as 
certainly and as easily as they can read the brain, 
and can therefore explain the physical condition and 
impressions of both. 

While lecturing in the city of Belfast, Me., upon 
this phase of the phenomena, a gentleman came to 
the rooms occupied by Mr. Frost and myself, and 
asked for a* private examination without telling us 
his name. I threw Mr. Frost into the magnetic state 
by a mere touch of my finger ; and while he held the 
ulnar nerve of the patient, he spent about fifteen 
minutes in examining his vital organs, just as a 
machinist would explore the interior of a machine 
which had become disabled, putting the man in varj= 



WHY CLAIRVOYANTS EXCEL THEMSELVES, l6l 

ous positions — bending his body forward, raising liis 
arms, cic, apparently watching his lungs all the 
while. The first thing he said to the man was, 
" You cut gravestones. The attitude has oppressed 
your lungs and brought on consumption ; and you 
must leave that work, or die very soon." The man 
was satisfied that there was something more than 
guesswork about such a revelation, and acknowl- 
edged that his physician had just told him the same 
thing. 

We may also state that this clairvoyant. Frost, 
would not only describe the nature of a disease, but 
tell the patient what he himself thought of it, and 
whether his opinion was correct or not ; showing 
him to have been independent of the influence of 
other minds in making his investigations. It is a 
fact that we might have compelled him, by a wish or 
act of will, to have seen and describe every thing 
iu any of these examinations differently from what 
they were ; but we knew that unless the medium was 
let alone, a correct diagnosis of the physical condi- 
tion of the patient could not have been made. We 
cannot but think that if the Spiritualists had not 
degraded the science by connecting ghosts with it, 
physicians generally would have availed themselves 
of the ability of intelligent clairvoyants to ascertain 
the true nature of the diseases for which they are 
called to prescribe ; for this is one of the benefits which 
this natural endowment bestows upon mankind. 

WHY CLAIRVOYANTS EXCEL THEIR .NATURAL POV/ERS. 

It may be asked, If such ability characterizes the 
mediums in a state of trance, why do they excel their 
ordinary powers ? We answer. As a general thing, 



l62 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

they do not. As a rule, however, they approximate the 
ability of those minds and their talents under whose 
control they are supposed to be acting. In illus- 
trating this phase of the subject I have changed these 
subjects while in trance, before public audiences, 
into various characters with whom they were ac- 
quainted or historically informed, and set them to 
making speeches which would be a fair imitation of 
the style of oratory of such persons, or of their con- 
ception of it ; but if I threw them into the company 
of supposed idiots, their ideas would be incoherent 
and their attempted speech idiotic. We have heard 
the mediums while under the control of supposed 
Indian or Irish or Dutch spirits, when their ideas 
and language would be crude and broken — good imi- 
tations of these supposed controlling spirits. 

The lecture of the clairvoyant Brown to which we 
have alluded was not only superior to his own abil- 
ity, but to that also of my uncle, though it would 
have been equalled by him in the dreaming condition 
of partial sleep ; that is, were he to dream of giving 
a lecture on prophecy. On one occasion, before an 
audience in the city of Albany, I threw a man into 
the magnetic trance, and knowing he had committed 
RoUo's "Address to the Peruvian Army," I 
changed him into the General himself ; at the same 
time showing him the army ready to be led against 
the invaders, suggesting that before the conflict began 
he should fire his troops with courage, as upon that 
battle depended the liberty of his nation. At once 
he delivered the address, in the grandest style of 
oratory, and with as much eloquence and enthusiasm 
as if the surrounding scenes were those of the real 
Rollo and his patriotic army. 



WHY CLAIRVOYANTS EXCEL THEMSELVES. 163 

On another occasion I delivered a lecture on the 
same subject before the students of the Law College 
at Albany, at the conclusion of which, and at the re- 
quest of many, I tried some of the students — perhaps 
about a dozen — and found one of them so susceptible 
of the magnetic force, that at my first touch he fell 
into such contortions that it was difficult to keep him 
upon his feet. The next day he listened to the law 
lecture of the late Hon. Ira Harris, and in the even- 
ing I invited him with a number of the other students 
to come to my house, which they did. I threw him 
into the trance, and then by metamorphosis he 
became the judge himself. At a suggestion he was 
made to repeat the morning lecture of Mr. Harris, 
and which the students present who had heard it 
declared to be a verbatim repetition. When this man 
(Kimball) heard this lecture in the morning, he could 
only report a small part of it, not knowing phonogra- 
phy, and even this he could not repeat without read- 
ing from his notes ; but w'hen in the trance, and turn- 
ing his whole attention within himself by shutting 
off all his senses from outward objects, he was able 
to read the whole lecture from his own brain — the 
animal electrotype plates — thus showing it had been im- 
printed there. 

That mind is in the highest state of cultivation 
which has acquired the greatest degree of mental 
concentration ; that is, of abstracting the intellectual 
faculties from every subject but the one in hand, and 
of becoming absorbed with that. This being the 
normal condition of the clairvoyant state, to a very 
great extent, gives the reason why they thus excel 
their ordinary condition ; and according to electric 
laws gives the positive controlling mind the power 



164 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

to dispatch the electricity to that of the clairvoyant 
negative, reducing all its faculties to absolute sub- 
jection. On the other hand, and according to an- 
other law, that negatives affect positives, the clair- 
voyant is reciprocally able to glide within the mental 
realm of others using the same electric agent with 
which he looks into his own brain, to find the picture 
of a forgotten event, name, or date, and reading 
therefrom any or all of the information he possesses : 
reading events which have so long ago transpired 
that it is with great difficulty and only by connecting 
them with other associations the individual is brought 
to memorize them himself. Indeed, we may easily 
conceive of pictures of events so long since traced 
upon the brain and so disconnected with every thing 
like them, that by the ordinary exercise of memory 
can never be recalled. Hence mediums sometimes 
tell us things which we can only verify by inquiry. 

Medical books report numerous cases of diseases of 
the brain, partial paralysis, catalepsy and somnam- 
bulism, which manifest feats of memory and intellect 
as unaccountable as any of those of Spiritualism. 

A REMARKABLE FEATURE OF INSANITY. 

Upon this subject Dr. Abercrombie says that " a 
remarkable peculiarity of insanity is, a great activity 
of mind and rapidity of conception — a tendency to 
seize rapidly upon incidental or partial relations of 
things — and often a fertility of imagination which 
changes the character of the mind, sometimes with- 
out greatly distorting it. The memory in such cases 
is entire, and even appears more ready than in 
health. Old associations are called up with a 
rapidity quite unknown to the individual in his sound 



A REMARKABLE FEATURE OF INSANITY. 1 65 

State of mind. A gentleman, mentioned by Dr. 
Willis, who was liable to periodical attacks of in- 
sanity said he expected the paroxysms with impa- 
tience, because he enjoyed during them a high 
degree of pleasure. ' Every thing appeared easy to 
me,' he said. ' No obstacles presented themselves, 
either in theory or practice. My memory acquired, 
all of • sudden, a singular degree of perfection. 
Long passages of Latin authors occurred to my 
mind. In general, I have great difficulty in finding 
rhythmical terminations ; but then I could write 
verses with as great facility as prose.' " 

"I have often," says Pinel, "stopped at the 
chamber door of a gentleman who, during his parox- 
ysms, appears to soar above the mediocrity of intel- 
lect that was familiar to him, solely to admire his 
newly acquired powers of eloquence. He declaimed 
upon the subject of the Revolution with all the force, 
dignity, and purity of language that this very interest- 
ing subject could admit of. At other times he was a 
man of very ordinary abilities. The peculiar charac 
ter of insanity, in all its modifications, appears to be, 
that a certain impression has fixed itself upon the 
mind in such a manner as to exclude all others, or to 
exclude them from that influence which they ought to 
have on the mind in its estimate of the relations of 
things." — Mental Poiocrs, p. 249, 

In regard to the memory of languages, a French- 
man mentioned by Dr. Abernethy, who had spent 
the greater part of his life in England, had for many 
years entirely lost the habit of speaking French ; 
but when under the care of Dr. Abernethy, for an 
injury of the head, he always spoke French. 



l66 KEY TO GHOSTISM, 



UI^IKHOY/H TONGUES SPOKEN FROM BRAIN INJURIES. 

A similar case occurred in St. Thomas' Hospital, 
of a man who was in a state of stupor in consequence 
of a similar injury. On his partial recovery he 
spoke a language which nobody in the hospital un- 
derstood, but which was soon ascertained to be 
Welsh. It was then discovered that he had been 
thirty years absent from Wales, and, before the acci- 
dent, had entirely forgotten his native language. On 
his perfect recovery he completely forgot his Welsh 
again, and recovered his English. 

A lady mentioned by Dr. Prichard, when in a state 
of delirium, spoke a language which nobody about 
her understood, but which also was discovered to be 
Welsh. None of her friends could form any concep- 
tion of the manner in which she had become ac- 
quainted with that language ; but after much inquiry 
it was discovered that in her childhood she had a 
nurse, a native of a district on the coast of Brit- 
tany, the dialect of which is closely analogous to the 
Welsh. The lady at that time had learned a good 
deal of this dialect, but had entirely forgotten it for 
many years before this attack of fever. 

The case has also been reported of a lady who was 
a native of Germany, but married to an English 
gentleman, and for a considerable time accustomed 
to speak the English language. During her illness 
she always spoke German, and could not make her- 
self understood by her English attendants, except 
when her husband acted as interpreter. 

A woman who was a native of the Highlands, but 
accustomed to speak English, was under the care of 
Dr. Macintosh, of Edinburgh, on account of an attack 



LRAIN TRINTIXG. 167 

of apoplexy. She was so far recovered as to look 
around her with an appearance of intelligence, but 
the doctor could not make her comprehend any thing 
he said, or answer the simplest question. He then 
desired one of her friends to address her in Gaelic, 
when she immediately answered with readiness and 
fluency. 

An Italian gentleman, mentioned by Dr. Rush, 
who died of yellow-fever in New York, in the begin- 
ning of his illness spoke English ; in the middle of it, 
French ; but on the day of his death he spoke only 
Italian. 

We may here remark that what this Italian learned 
in his youth was imprinted deepest upon his softer 
brain. During the second period of his life hs 
learned French, which made less depth of impres- 
sion ; while the English spoken in New York, and 
the last learned, would be the first to be defaced by 
the burning fever of the brain. In its progress the 
French would go next, and lastly tlie Italian. 

A Lutheran clergyman of Philadelphia informed 
Dr. Rush that Germans and Swedes, of whom he 
had a considerable number in his congregation, when 
near death always prayed in their native languages, 
though some of them he was confident had not 
spoken those languages for fifty or sixty years. 

BRAIK PRINTINa. 

Upon what other principle than that of absolute 
brain print could these mother-tongues be called to 
remembrance ? These being the first languages 
learned in childhood, made the deepest indentations 
upon the more plastic brain, and would therefore 
remain to be used after the progress of disease had 



l68 KEY TO GHCSTISM. 

obliterated every trace of the subsequently acquired 
languages. 

" A case has been related to me," says Dr. Aber- 
crombie, "of a boy who at the age of four re- 
ceived a fracture of the skull, for which he under- 
went the operation of trepanning. He was at the 
time in a state of perfect stupor, and after his re- 
covery retained no recollection either of the accident 
or the operation. At the age of fifteen, during the 
delirium of a fever, he gave his mother a correct de- 
scription of the operation and the persons present at 
the time, with their dress and other minute particu- 
lars. He had never alluded to it before, and no 
means were known by which he could have acquired 
a knowledge of the circumstances which he thus 
mentioned." 

Here, after eleven years' interval, the brain of the 
boy was thrown by fever into a similar condition to 
that produced by the injury, and now under the 
delirium, his mind being abstracted from all outward 
objects and confined within itself, clearly read the 
pictures printed upon it during the operation of the 
trepanning, including the photographs of the per- 
sons present on that occasion. The fact that the 
injury of the skull in this case produced general 
intellectual stupor, or prevented parts of the brain 
from acting, but not those which were engaged in 
the reception of the minutiae thus imprinted, shows 
that some of its parts perform intellectual action 
while others are dormant ; and that while thus 
engaged the unaffected parts are more acute and 
accurate than when the whole brain is acting 
together, as in perfect health. The fact that there 
is the same amount of electric force received and 



EFFECTS PRODUCED RV FEVER. 1 69 

carried to tlic brain by inlialation, for use in thinking 
and volition, and that the deranged part of tlie brain 
does not act, and therefore consumes none of this 
force, the excess being thrown upon the active parts, 
increases their capacity, and gives us the scientific 
reason which accounts for the extraordinary feats of 
intellectual power which the surcharged brain of the 
magnetized mediums manifest. 

EFFECTS PRODUCED BY FEYER. 

"An eminent medical friend," says Dr. A., "in- 
forms me that during fever without any delirium, he 
on one occasion repeated long passages from Homer, 
which he could not do when in health ; and another 
friend has mentioned to me, that in a similar situa- 
tion there were represented to his mind, in a most 
vivid manner, the circumstances of a journey in the 
Highlands, which he had performed long before, in- 
cluding many particulars which he had entirely for- 
gotten. The late Dr. Gregory was accustomed to 
mention in his lectures the case of a clergyman who, 
while laboring under a disease of the brain, spoke 
nothing but Hebrew, which was ascertained to be the 
last language he had acquired." 

In this case we may remark that the disease had 
not progressed far enough to obliterate from the 
brain the last and slightest impressions. On the 
contrary, the excitement it produced only quickened 
this part of his brain, and thereby increased its 
capacity for the time being ; and he could speak his 
Hebrew better on that account than when in health. 

An English lady, mentioned by Dr. Prichard, in 
recovering from an apoplectic attack always spoke 
to her attendants in French, and had actually lost 



I/O KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

the knowledge of the English language. This con- 
tinued about a month. The higher degrees of this 
condition amount to that state which we call idiot- 
ism ; and this we find supervening both upon affec- 
tions of the brain and protracted febrile diseases. 
The condition so produced is sometimes permanent, 
but frequently transient. This depends, however, 
upon its degree. Recovery takes place in some cases 
gradually; in others very suddenly. 

MENTAL FACULTIES LOST AND RECOVERED. 

A man, mentioned by Willis, on recovering from a 
putrid fever was found to have so entirely lost his 
mental faculties that he knew nobody, remembered 
nothing, and understood nothing. He continued in 
this state for two months, and then gradually recov- 
ered. Some years ago I attended a young man who, 
on recovering from a tedious fever, was found to be 
in a state bordering upon idiotism, which continued 
after his health was entirely restored. In this state 
he was taken to the country, where he gradually re- 
covered, after several months. A gentleman, men- 
tioned by Wepfer, on coming out of an apoplectic 
attack, was found to know nobod1f%nd remembered 
nothing. After several weeks he began to know his 
friends, to remember words, to repeat the Lord's 
Prayer, and to read a few words of Latin, rather than 
German, which was his own language. When urged 
to read more than a few words at a time, he said that 
he formerly understood these things, but now he did 
not. After some time he began to pay more atten- 
tion to what was passing around him ; but, while 
thus making slight and gradual progress, he was 
suddenly cut off by an apoplectic attack. 

Dr. Prichard, on the authority of the late Dr. Rush, 



15RAIN PRINT ILLUSTRATED. 171 

of Philadelphia, mentions an American student of 
considerable attainments, who, on recovering from a 
fever, was found to have lost all his acquired knowl- 
edge. When his health was restored, he began to 
apply to the Latin Grammar, had passed through 
the elementary parts, and was beginning to construe, 
when one day, in making a strong effort to recollect 
a part of his lesson, the whole of his lost impressions 
suddenly returned to his mind, and he found himself 
at once in possession of all his former acquirements. 
That impressions may be imprinted very early in 
life and only recalled by similar circumstances and 
locations, is evinced by various facts, one of which is 
given by Abercrombie thus : 

INFANT IMPRESSIONS RECALLED AT MATURE AGE. 

" A lady, in the last stage of a chronic disease, 
was carried from London to a lodging in the coun- 
try. There her infant daughter was taken to visit her, 
and after a short interview carried back to town. 
The lady died a few days after, and the daughter 
grew up without any recollection of her mother, till 
she was of mature age. At this time she happened 
to be taken into tlie room in which her mother died, 
without knowing it to have been such. She started 
on entering it, and when a friend who was with her 
asked the cause of her agitation, replied, " I have a 
distinct impression of having been in this room be- 
fore, and that a lady who lay in that corner and 
seemed very ill, leaned over me and wept." 

BRAIN PRINT ILLUSTRATED BY PHOTOGRAPHY. 

That real and perfect pictures are received upon 
the retina of the eye, and by its lenses through the 
optic nerve conveyed to and photographed upon the 



1/2 KEY TO GHOSTISM. . 

brain, may be demonstrated by the artistic construc- 
tion of the Camera Obscura, in which there is a dark 
chamber resembling in its mechanism the human 
eye, wherein the images of external objects, received 
through a double convex glass, are exhibited dis- 
tinctly on a white surface placed on the focus of the 
glass. If this optical machinery, in all its principal 
features made in imitation of the physiological mech- 
anism of human vision, will, by the aid of sunlight, 
burn the picture of objects placed before it perma- 
nently into a suitable surface prepared for them, why 
will not the same mechanical principles of the human 
eye convey pictures into the camera obscura, or dark 
chamber of the brain, and burn into its plates the 
permanent images of objects struck upon its convex 
surface ? Indeed, this result is just as certain as that 
like mechanical principles produce like effects — than 
which there is nothing in the art and science of 
mechanics more universally known and acknowl- 
edged. It may be objected that in human art one 
picture upon another mars both. But cannot the 
Being who made the human eye and brain have con- 
structed them without this defect ? Behold incor- 
porated into the little seed of an apple the embryonic 
tree, with its ripe fruit which evolves from it, and 
which must have been first involved in it — the pecu- 
liar wood, bark, leaves, shape and form of the tree as 
a whole, the coloring matter of its leaves, peculiarity 
of its sap, shape of its fruit, in all varieties of its 
color and shade, skin, scent, flavor, limit of its dura- 
tion, and the tree itself, endowed with a separate 
mechanical department not essential to the growth 
and maturity of that single tree, but for the per- 
petuation of subsequent generations. Behold all 



CONDITIONS OF THE SPEAKING MACHINE. 173 

these wonderful mechanical and chemical principles 
crowded into this little seed ! — a litde world of won- 
ders. We repeat the question, cannot a Being with 
such capacity have made the surfaces and depths of 
the human brain susceptible of receiving the whole 
panorama of nature and art as well, without marring 
or confusion ? 

CONDITIONS OF THE SPEAKINd MACHINE. 

In the case of the phonograph, or speaking 
machine, its power or faculty to repeat human speech 
depends upon the shape and depth of the indenta- 
tions made upon the tin-foil of its cylinder by the 
voice speaking to it. By examining these indenta- 
tions with a magnifying glass, they are found to be 
endless in variety. Let a succession of the same 
sounds be repeated, and a corresponding succession 
of indentations without variation of shape or depth 
will be made ; the least increase or decrease in a 
sound made by the human voice, or by any animal, 
or by inanimate concussion, will produce an exact 
corresponding indentation upon the tin-foil, which 
answers to the human brain. From this it follows 
that all the variety of sounds capable of being made 
by the animate and inanimate world may be imprint- 
ed by permanent indentations upon a single human 
brain, and repeated by the organs of sound and 
speech, whenever desire or necessity requires them. 
So also may the visual images of human optics be re- 
produced. 

Dr. Abercrombie relates the following circum- 
stance, which gives a good illustration of this phe- 
nomenon : " In the church of St. Peter's, at Cologne, 
the altar piece is a large and valuable picture by 



1/4 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

Rubens, representing the martyrdom of the apostle. 
This picture having been carried away by the French 
in 1805, to the great regret of the inhabitants, a 
painter of that city undertook to make a copy of it 
from recollection ; and succeeded in doing so in such 
a manner that the most delicate tints of the original 
are preserved with the most minute accuracy. The 
original painting has now been restored, but the 
copy is preserved along with it ; and even when they 
are rigidly compared, it is scarcely possible to distin- 
guish the one from the other. I am not aware that 
this remarkable anecdote has been recorded by any 
traveller," says the doctor. *' I am indebted for it to 
my friend Dr. Duncan, of the University of Edin- 
burgh, who heard it on the spot, in a late visit to 
the Continent, and saw both pictures." — Intellectual 
Powers, p. 113. 

CULTIYATIOK OF MEMORY. 

In relation to memory, on the same page the doc- 
tor sums up his argument thus : " The facts which 
have been briefly referred to, in regard to the phenom- 
ena of memory, lead to some remarks of a practical 
nature. These relate to the improvement of atten- 
tion and memory in persons of adult years, and the 
cultivation of these powers in the education of the 
young. 

" The rules from which benefit is to be derived for 
the improvement of memory may be chiefly referred 
to the following heads : 

I. The cultivation of habits of attention, or of 
intense application of the mind to whatever is at the 
time its more immediate object of pursuit. 

" 2. Habits of correct association. These consist 



CULTIVATION OF MEMORY. 175 

in the constant practice of tracing the relation 
between new facts and others with which we are pre- 
viously acquainted ; and of referring facts to princi- 
ples which they are calculated to illustrate, or to 
opinions which they tend to confirm or modify, or 
overturn. This is the operation of what we call a 
reflecting mind ; and that information which is thus 
fully contemplated and associated is not likely to be 
forgotten. 

" 3. Intimatel}^ connected with both the former 
rules is the cultivation of that active, inquiring state 
of mind which is always on the watch for knowledge 
from every source coming within its reach, either 
in reading, conversation, or observation. Such a 
mind is ever ready to refer newly acquired knowl- 
edge to its proper place. It is thus easily retained, 
and made to yield those conclusions which arc legiti- 
mately deduced from it." 

The doctor gives us the following rules to guide in 
our investigations : 

" In forming a collection of facts on which we are 
to found conclusions, it is always to be kept in mind 
that fallacy may arise from the absence of important 
facts, as well as from the reception of statements 
which are untrue. Hence the erroneous conclusions 
that may be deduced from statements which are 
strictly true ; and hence the fallacious systems that 
are built up with every appearance of plausibility and 
truth, when facts are collected on one side of a ques- 
tion, or in support of a particular doctrine. In form- 
ing a collection of facts, therefore, as the preliminary 
step in any inquiry, the following rules ought to be 
'kept strictly and constantly in view before we ad- 
vance to any conclusions : 



176 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

" I. That all the facts be fully ascertained ; that 
those collected by ourselves be derived from suffici- 
ent observation ; and that those which we receive 
from others be received only on the testimony of 
persons fully qualified to judge of their accuracy, 
and who have had sufficient opportunities of acquir- 
ing them. 

" 2. That the statement include a full and fair view 
of all the facts which ought to be taken into the in- 
vestigation ; that none of them be disguised, or 
modified so as to be made to bear upon a particular 
doctrine ; and that no essential facts be wanting. 

" 3. That the statement do not include facts 
which are trivial, incidental, or foreign to the sub- 
ject. 

" 4. That we do not receive as facts statements 
which are not facts, but opinions or general assump- 
tions." 

THE WITCH OF EH-DOR. 

In view of the facts of the science and philosophy 
of mind and memory here presented, illustrated by 
our own experiments and observation, and corrobo- 
rated by those recorded by eminent medical authori- 
ties, it needs but little else than their application to 
clearly elucidate the phenomena of the supposed 
spiritualism, showing it to be the product of human 
mental philosophy. Before making their application 
to the experiments already quoted from Mr. Home's 
book, we wish to investigate a case of ancient famil- 
iar spiritualism, which shows it to be the same as the 
modern. We allude to that of the witch of En-dor,, 
who is supposed to have I'aised the prophet Samuel 
from the dead. This practice was prohibited by such 



THE WITCH OF EN-DOR. 177 

divine statutes as the following : " Thou shalt not 
suffer a witch to live" (Ex. 22 : 18). " When thou 
art come into the land which the Lord thy God 
giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the 
abominations of those nations. There shall not be 
found among you any one that uscth divination, or 
an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a wizard, 
or a necromancer, or a consulter with familiar 
spirits : for all that do these things are an abomina- 
tion unto the Lord." (Deut. 18 : 10-12.) 

Here we see that the inhibition was as much 
against those who consulted the familiar spirits as 
those who possessed them ; and that these terms 
comprehend every imaginable phase and feature of 
Spiritualism, which in all ages of the world have 
been practised by the priests of idolatry, to give a 
mysterious and false dignity to their various forms 
of man-degrading superstition and folly. We also 
see that the modern charmers have selected from this 
nomenclature " Spiritualism," as the badge of their 
profession. Notwithstanding this practice was thus 
prohibited, and by a law of his own kingdom, yet it 
is recorded of Saul the king, after he found the Lord 
had forsaken him and he could obtain no more 
answers, neither by dreams nor by Urim and Thum- 
mim (God's appointed method of communication), 
nor by the prophets, said, " Seek me out a woman 
that hath a familiar spirit, that I may inquire of her." 
It is the women who generally possess the familiar 
spirit. Saul's servants came and reported that they 
had found such a woman, who dwelt at a place called 
En-dor, who was probably a witch of great celebrity. 
So at night (the season most appropriate for the dark 
business) Saul and his servants went and held a 



1/8 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

seance at the house of the Spiritualist. The exact 
account is as follows : 

" Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel lamented 
him, and buried him in Ramah, even in his own city. 
And Saul had put away those that had familiar 
spirits, and the wizards, out of the land. And the 
Philistines gathered themselves together, and came 
and pitched in Shunem : and Saul gathered all 
Israel together, and they pitched in Gilboa. And 
when Saul saw the host of the Phi»listines, he was 
afraid, and his heart greatly trembled. And when 
Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him 
not, neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by proph- 
ets. Then said Saul to his servants, Seek vie a woman 
that hath a familiar spirit^ that I may go to her, 
and inquire of her. And his servants said unto him. 
Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit 
at En-dor. Ajid Saul disguised himself, and put on 
other raiment, and he went, and two men with him, 
and they came to the woman by night : and he said, 
I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, 
and bring me him up whom I shall name unto thee. 
[The Spiritualists had not yet learned the notion 
afterwards taught by Socrates, that the spirit was the 
intelligent part of man, and that it went up to heaven 
at the event the Bible calls death ; but Socrates 
taught that there is no death, only a separation ; and 
therefore they associated their spirit communications 
with dead and buried men, which could only be re- 
ceived by raising them from the dead. ' Whom 
shall I bring up unto thee ? And he said. Bring me 
np Samuel.'] And the woman said unto him, Be- 
hold, thou knowest what Saul hath done, how he 
hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the 



THE WITCH OF EN-DOR. I79 

wizards, out of the land : wherefore then layest thou 
a snare for my life, to cause me to die ? And Saul 
svvare to her by the Lord, saying, As the Lord liveth, 
there shall no punishment happen to thee for this 
thing. Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring 
up unto thee ? And he said. Bring me up Samuel. 
And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a 
loud voice : and the Avoman spake to Saul, saying, 
Why hast thou deceived me ? for thou art Saul. 
[Here we see that the moment the medium went into 
the electric trance by whose agency she could read 
the images of her own brain, and gliding upon it, 
had entered the nerves and brain of Saul, as the neg- 
ative passes to the positive, she saw the image of 
Samuel, and instantly that also of Saul himself, pho- 
tographed upon the brain of the living king. ' Thou 
art Saul ! ''\ And the king said unto her. Be net 
afraid : for what sawest thou ? And the woman said 
unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth. 
And he said unto her. What form is he of ? And 
she said, An old man cometh up ; and he is covered 
with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was 
Samuel. [It will be noticed that Saul did not see 
Samuel, but knew it to be him by the description the 
medium gave. While Samuel was living he was 
God's mouth-piece to Saul. He had anoFnted him to 
be king, under the inspiration of God. Samuel had 
stood in the place of God, and reproved Saul for his 
wickedness ; and before whom he had often stood in 
awe and trembling. Saul had therefore come to view 
Samuel with the same reverence as though he were 
God. Hence the Spiritualist read this conception 
imprinted on the brain of Saul, and she said, ' I 
saw gods ascending out of the earth.'] And he 



l80 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

Stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed him- 
self. 

SAUL A FULL GHOST BELIEVER. 

[Saul was now a full believer in Spiritualism. She 
had given him the test of discovering him to be the 
king, calling him by name, which his disguise ren- 
dered impossible for her to know in the ordinary way. 
She had also described Samuel the prophet to his 
entire satisfaction ; which therefore confirmed his 
conviction that in some way " divinity" was con- 
nected with these revelations. Hence he had said 
unto her, " Divine unto me, I pray thee." In such 
presence therefore he bowed himself to the ground. 
The clairvoyant now puts Saul in communication with 
Samuel, and the medium read from the brain of Saul 
his thoughts, convictions, and apprehensions, and re- 
turned them to the king in the shape of communica- 
tions from the dead prophet.] 

" And Samuel said unto Saul, Why hast thou dis- 
quieted me, to bring me up ? [This would naturally 
be the first reproof Saul anticipated.] And Saul 
answered, I am sore distressed ; for the Philistines 
make war against me, and God i^ departed from me, 
and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor 
by dreams : therefore I have called thee, that thou 
mayest make known unto me what I shall do. Then 
said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, 
seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become 
thine enemy ? And the Lord hath done to him [to 
Saul, showing that the communication was about 
Saul, but through the medium], as he spake by me : 
for the Lord hath rent the kingdom out of thine 
hand, and given it to thy neighbor David ; because 



THE MEDIUM READ SAUL'S BRAIN. l8l 

thou obeyedst not the voice of the Lord, nor execut- 
edsthis fierce wrath upon Amalck, therefore hath tlie 
Lord done this tiling unto thee this day. Moreover 
the Lord will also deliver Israel with thee into the 
hand of the Philistines : and to-morrow shalt thou 
and thy sons be with me ; the Lord also shall deliver 
the host of Israel into the hand of the Philistines. 
[It will be seen that the medium only told Saul 
what he already knew and what he anticipated in the 
future. Then follov/s the description of the effect 
this supposed divination had upon the king.] 

THE MELIUH READ SAUL'S BRAIH, 
And returned it to him ao a message from. Samuel. 
" Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, 
and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel : 
and there was no strength in him ; for he had eaten 
no bread all the day, nor all the night. And the 
woman came unto Saul, and saw that he was sore 
troubled, and said unto him, Behold, thine handmaid 
hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my 
hand, and have hearkened unto thy words which 
thou spakest unto me. Now therefore, I pray thee, 
hearken thou also unto the voice of thine handmaid, 
and let me set a morsel of bread before thee ; and 
eat, that thou mayest have strength when thou goest 
on thy way. But he refused, and said, I will not eat. 
But his servants, together with the woman, compelled 
him ; and he hearkened unto their voice. So he 
arose from the earth, and sat upon the bed. And the 
woman had a fat calf in the house ; and she hasted 
and killed it, and took flour, and kneaded it, and did 
bake unleavened bread thereof : and she brought it 
before Saul, and his servants ; and they did eat. 



1 82 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

Then they rose up, and went away that night" (i 
Sam. 28 : 3-25). 

SAUL'S FAITH IH WITCHCRAFT THE CAUSE OF HIS 
SUICIDE. 

So powerful was this supposed revelation from the 
dead prophet, that it wrought out its own fulfilment. 
From that moment Saul could see nothing before 
him but discomfiture, defeat, and death. On the one 
hand every source of, encouragement presented to his 
bewildered imagination dwindled into insignificance 
as he contemplated it, while on the other the least 
unfavorable occurrence was magnified into a dark 
and hideous omen. Thus was the abandoned king 
rendered an easy prey to his enemies. So confident- 
ly did he credit the supposed prediction of Samuel, 
that long before the day passed he is found soliciting 
his armor-bearer to slay him ; and failing, madly 
throws himself upon his own sword, and suffered a 
death which might have been averted, had he not 
consulted the infamous witch. 

SOURCE OF THE IHTELLIGtEHCE OF HOME'S GHOSTS. 

Let us now examine the source of the intelligence 
manifested by the supposed spirit revelations, the 
account of which we have already quoted from Mr. 
Home's book, and we shall clearly understand it to 
be attributable to the mind-reading faculty of the 
trance medium, and the controlling power of other 
minds, compelling the mediums to see and hear 
things which do not exist ; as, for instance, the hand 
that took the rose from one of the ladies in one of 
these seances, and carried it across the table to the 
other. In such a case the condition is, that all pres- 



INTELLIGENCE OF IIOME'S GHOSTS. 1 83 

ent are mediums, or at least all who see the hand. 
It is perfectly preposterous that a material hand, cut 
from a material body, could perform such a volun- 
tary feat ; and that it was only a hand which did 
this, demonstrates it was, in appearance, a psycho- 
logical illusion. Neither could an immaterial spirit, 
or ghost, have a material hand ; or if it had, it could 
nut use it for any purpose ; as no matter, or 710/hiiig, 
cannot move matter. That the rose might have 
thus moved, and the table also, we can easily under- 
stand and explain upon scientific principles, as we 
have already done. 

We commence with the case of the child's coffin 
in the vault being placed on the top of that of a 
lady, whose spirit was supposed to have been very 
much incensed at such an outrage. Why should 
the spirit which has been released from its cumber- 
some carcass, and that forever, be so disquieted and 
so offended as was this lady spirit at a transaction 
which, if done by a mortal, would be held as mean 
and selfish in the last degree — the setting a coffin' of 
a dead child upon that of another member of the 
same family ? But it is a common characteristic of 
the spirits to be childishly quarrelsome and sensi- 
tive, and that without regard to the time they have 
been in the spirit land — which is no more land than 
they are spirits. This fact, however, demonstrates 
that children spirits make no progress in the fancy 
spirit land, and the adult spirits retrograde to child- 
ishness after they get there. 

If we turn now to the account given by Mr. Home 
(see pp. 127-143) of the manifestations through his 
mediumship, we cannot fail to solve their mysteries 
upon these natural principles ; and if this proves true 



I84 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

in regard to those instances which we have already- 
quoted from Home's book, it will equally explain 
the philosophy of all the other intelligence of 
Spiritualism, without the intervention of spirits. 
Mr. Home could have been compelled to walk in 
the winter over the Green Mountains, from Boston 
to Albany, by the intense wish of a controlling 
mind. We have ourselves scores of times compelled 
them to do things they did not wish to do, and which 
they exerted every effort to refrain from doing. In 
regard to the distance this mental telegraphy is prac- 
tical, we have every reason to believe it is as limitless 
as that of the magnetic telegraph. 

MENTAL TELEGRAPH. 

The following is a striking example of this intelli- 
gent electric transmission. On the day of the death 
of Lieutenant Dale in Syria (who belonged to the 
United States' Exploring Expedition to the Dead Sea, 
which was sent out some years since), his wife, being 
then in Pennsylvania, remarked to a gentleman, who 
afterward testified to the fact : " I wish you to note 
this day. My feelings are so unaccountably strange, 
and my spirits so depressed, that I am sure some 
great calamity awaits me. Note it, that it is the 
24th day of July," and which afterward proved to 
be the very day on which her husband, in that far 
distant land, had expired. Under such circum- 
stances the mind of her husband, laboring under his 
afflictions, would naturally be fixed upon his wife, 
intently desiring she should know his condition, thus 
producing on her mind the deep depression, and a 
desire to be thus informed, when, as quick as the 
lightning's flash, these vague intercommunications 



MENTAL TELEGRAril. I85 

passed back and forth. And wc add, that had she 
been Mr. Home, or as good a negative or medium as 
he, she would have received the whole facts of the 
case. It cannot be said that it was his spirit which 
brought the message from Syria to the United States 
after tlie Lieutenant's death ; for I have made more 
intelligent communications scores of times upon the 
minds of distant persons, simply by a desire ; and if 
it had been my spirit by which I live which had left 
me to carry such a message, I would have died the 
instant of its departure. We might fill a book with 
the narration of similar facts ; but they are so famil- 
iarly known, that it would be useless. Here, there- 
fore, we have the solution of the communications 
passing from Hartford to Springfield, and the reason 
of the journey of Mr. Home. The expectation of his 
coming shows the gentleman had his mind anxiously 
fixed on this strange visitor, and probably up n his 
deceased wife, which he expected would furnish 
matter for spirit tests. 

Wc do not see why Mr. Home should have been so 
sensitive at the undignified character of the coffin 
occurrence, when in fact ninety-nine hundredths of 
the purporting spirit communications are equally 
childish. It will be noticed that every thing about 
the silk dress — its color and texture — was perfectly 
known to the Hartford gentleman. He had heard 
its rustlings as the living lady moved with it on, the 
sound of which had made its corresponding indenta- 
tions upon his brain, reading which by the medium 
as the speaking macliine, repeated back the sound 
which was heard by the company. In fact, medi- 
ums are nothing but involuntary repeating machines^ 
hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, feeling, thinking, 



1 86 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

speaking, and acting or reacting as they are con- 
trolled by other mortal minds. The facts relating to 
the coffin, however, were unknown to this gentleman, 
and could not have been read from his brain by the 
medium. 

Let us mark these incidental facts. It was the day 
before that the sexton had committed this conscious 
breach of propriety, and it was the same day Mr. 
Home was engaged in reading the brain of his guest, 
whereon he saw these pictured facts of the little old 
lady ; and while thus engaged the conclusion was 
formed to go with Mr. Home and the sexton to the 
vault. This thought about the sexton, whom he saw 
also pictured on the brain of his host, because know- 
ing his connection with this matter, brought Mr. 
Home also in communication with the sexton, from 
whose mind he caught the information in relation to 
the coffins. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THIS COMMUNICATIOH. 

Every one who knows any thing about clairvoyants 
also knows that it is only necessary for the party con- 
sulting them to think ahout a third person, to put the 
medium in communication with that person, and 
enable them to read equally well from their brain 
what they also know. In this case the three minds — 
that of Mr. S., of the medium, and the sexton — were 
concentrated upon the same subject at the same time, 
and all in the same neighborhood, rendering it one 
of the easiest cases for a clairvoyant to read the 
theme of their investigation from the living tablets 
of the brain of the others, although ignorant of the 
natural principle by which they came into possession 
of the information, and of returning it to the same in- 



rillLOSOPIIY OF THIS COMMUNICATION. 1 8/ 

dividuals in the shape of revelations from the spirits 
of the dead. Thus did this familiar spiritualist, 
Home, delude himself and deceive his Hartford con- 
suiter into the interdicted sin of witchcraft. 

To understand the communications in this seance 
relating to the dead child of the Countess, it is only 
necessary to refer to the fact that every item of it 
was known to the mother, and upon whose brain all 
its pictures stood impressed, to be read by him who 
has the faculty of seeing them as easily as they might 
be ordinarily read from a book. It must be remem- 
bered that no audible voice speaks to the mediums, 
but that they receive the intelligence by impressions, 
from whatever source they come. Here, in the com- 
pany of this mother, was a famous mind-reader, 
and upon whose brain he saw the living imprint of 
what the woman knew, and wrote out, by intelligent 
raps, the name of the child, its age, etc. The 
motion of the table we have already explained upon 
the principle of comparative vacuums of atmospher- 
ic pressure. That the table in this case was lifted 
from the floor and another one moved from the 
corner of the room toward the company without a 
hand touching it, is to be attributed to the fact of 
the presence of Mr. Home, one of the best mediums 
in the world — and this means one of the most per- 
fect Leyden jars for the reception and transmission 
of animal electricity. Another fact is,, that the mag- 
nitude of these results depends upon the number and 
degree of mediumship present on any occasion ; 
just as galvanic electrical results depend upon the 
number and power of the batteries working together 
at any given time. 

That such results as the lifting of the table were 



1 88 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

witnessed on this occasion, leaves us to infer that 
others of this seance were mediums besides Mr. 
Home. It is not necessary that it should be known 
that mediums are such, even to themselves, that 
through them these noises and movements of objects 
should take place. These manifestations occur in 
what are supposed to be haunted houses. Some one of 
the mediums living in them, or in a neighboring 
house, though unconscious of their mediumship, are 
producing the supposed ghostly noises. Houses may 
also be thus haunted — and it is the only way in 
which they ever can be haunted — by the design of 
the familiar spiritualists, or by their conjurers, or 
living mortal controls, for the purpose of depreciat- 
ing the value of the property, out of revenge, or for 
real estate speculation ; and men who will commit 
these frauds upon the public, in the pretended spirit 
materializations which have been detected and 
exposed (and that for making money), would have 
no misgivings in haunting any house for such pur- 
poses. We volunteer this information that property 
owners may be on their guard ; and if they have a 
haunted house, to ask themselves the question, 
whether any Spiritualist, medium or believer, has 
any motive in thus injuring the value of his prop- 
erty ; and also that when any house is found to be 
haunted by ghosts, that people may understand it to 
be simply the antics of mental electricity. 

The motion of the flower across the table, from 
one lady to the other, which took place at the seance 
under consideration, has its explanation in the same 
cause that moved the small table from the corner of 
the room toward the circle sitting around the larger 
table, or that which lifted this into the air. In either 



OUR OWN EXPERIMENTS. 189 

of these cases there was no hand seen to lift or 
carry them ; and of course it was no more necessary 
that a hand should carry the rose than the table : 
indeed, it would seem more unreasonable that the 
large hand of a man should carry the light rose and 
not the heavy table or the light one. But the fact 
that the hand was seen by the company — it does not 
say by them all — and that the Countess felt the hand 
of her child under the table, holding it in hers, re- 
mains to be accounted for otherwise than by trick or 
misrepresentation, which would seem to be as -im- 
possible on this occasion as the materialization of 
the hands themselves. In regard to the mediums 
seeing any thing the controls wish, or upon which 
their minds fix, is one of the best known facts of 
clairvoyance. 

OUR OkYN EXPERIMENTS. 

We have shown to the mediums, before large audi- 
ences, half a dozen witches, ghosts, hobgoblins, and 
demons, from whom they would fly in terror. None 
saw them, however, but the charmed mediums. It 
is not impossible, therefore, that all who saw the 
hand carry the rose at this seance 7uere the charmed 
mediums, without knowing it. That the Countess, 
the mother of the child, was such, we have no doubt, 
for the materializations centred around her ; and 
indeed she alone felt one of the hands (that of her 
child), but without seeing it. 

In regard to the Spiritualistic Cabinet of Pharaoh 
who were assembled to imitate the miracles of 
Moses, he states that when he threw down his rod 
and it became a serpent, " the sorcerers did so also 
with their enchantments. They cast down every 



IQO KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

man his rod, and they became serpents" (Gen. 7 : 
12). In this case one of two things was true : either 
these wise men of Pharaoh had the power to make 
living serpents out of inanimate rods, or the enchant- 
ers threw the whole company into trance, including 
Moses, who declares they were serpents ; and he 
could not have done so had they not appeared to be 
such to him. Moses and Aaron were unconscious 
mediums, which explains the mystery, and shows 
that the serpents and the hand that carried the rose 
were psychologic illusions. If it was a hand as the 
flower was a flower, it would be as palpable to touch 
as to sight, and that by every one who could see. 
It could be taken in hand, just as well as the rose, 
and could be dissected and severed like the rose. It 
was made of flesh and bones, just like any hand. It 
makes no difference what or who materialized it into 
a human hand ; then it was a material hand, just as 
any other human hand, with all its organic arrange- 
ment and palpability. That the hand which grasped 
the apparition felt something at first and then noth- 
ing, was only the slight illusion of touch transferred 
from the deeper illusion of sight. That the hand 
"thus vanished, demonstrates it was not a materialized 
hand, but it was like all ghostly apparitions, which are 

" False creations, arising from the 
Heat oppressed brain. A dagger 
Of the mind. There's no such thing. 
'Tis the bloody business thus 
Informs to mine eyes." 

Shakespeare. 

PRACTICAL TESTS FOR SPIRITUALISTS. 

In conclusion, we demand of the Spiritualists that 
they produce some one or all of the following results : 



PRACTICAT. TESTS FOR SPIRITUALISTS. 19I 

When a medium dies from any derangement of 
the vital, organs — whether of the lungs, heart, or 
any other — and is pronounced dead by competent 
physicians, who are not Spiritualists, a seance shall 
be held, and a spirit- — whether the one who lived in 
the body before, or not — be conjured to take perma- 
nent possession of this body, and make it live, think, 
and act, just as it did before the separation took place. 
If the doctrines of the Spiritualists are true at all, 
this is the logical sequence of their teaching, which is 
that the bodily organs which we call vital, or the 
seat of life — those on which life depends, and by 
whose action we live — are not the life, and are no 
part or parts of it ; but that the life is the spirit 
which resides among these, as a tenant in a house. 
It is said that these are only the organs or instru- 
ments by the use of which the living creature makes 
himself manifest. Now these instruments are either 
essential or not essential to the existence of life, or 
to a living creature. If they arc essential to a living 
creature, so that it may be known to itself and others 
that it lives, or that it is thus made manifest that it 
is a living existence, then they are parts of the life 
itself, and not instruments at all. If they are not 
essential to enable the living creature who dwells 
among them to be seen to be alive — manifestly a liv- 
ing creature — then he would be such in the absence 
of the instruments : therefore the man would be 
manifestly the same creature in whose body the liv- 
ing spirit dwelt, if not one of these instruments were 
in it — no lungs, no heart, no stomach or digestive 
organs, etc. 

To illustrate this argument, let us suppose that 
man himself is a living creature — that the organs 



192 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

and their functions are vital, and that each one em- 
ployed or acting in the combination is an integral 
part of life, so that in the absence or serious derange- 
ment of either, all cease to act, and life is extinct, 
living ceases because life is not in any one of these — 
as the breath, heart, lungs, stomach, etc. — but in the 
combination of all. In a word, life, or being alive, is 
the result of the whole organization — the whole de- 
pending upon each, and each upon the whole. Here 
then we have a living creature. Let us further sup- 
pose he enters into a furnished house, answering the 
place of the medium. The family are seated round 
the room, and the seance commences. Now is it 
necessary that this living man should use any of the 
furniture the house contains — a cane with which to 
rap, another man's legs and arms with which to 
walk, or to lift and move a table round the room — to 
convince the company that he is alive, a living creat- 
ure ? This is as conclusive as though there was not 
an article in the house nor an instrument to be used. 
The question is, Why does not this living creature 
need organs or instruments not parts of himself to 
demonstrate beyond any doubt the fact that he is a 
living existence ? We answer, simply because he 
does live j it is self-evident. Suppose, still further, 
that surgical skill was equal to the task of removing 
all the vital organs with their connections from this 
man's body into another living man's body, and 
that there was room enough for both in one body, 
would there not be two identical living creatures liv- 
ing in the same house, and could the living organs 
of one be those of the other ? The fundamental fact 
is, that the vital organs are not instruments, but in- 
tegral parts of the life itself. Separate these two 



USE OF THE ORGANS OF ANOTHER. I93 

men so skilfully that not a vital organ or connec- 
tion would have suffered the least derangement or 
injury in either case, and would they need any organs 
but their own to make it manifest that they were 
alive ? And why ? Simply because it was a fact 
that they did live ; and to attest which, no other 
phenomena was needed except the fact that they 
hreaiJicd Here we see that if a creature lives, it not 
only needs no organs or instruments except its own 
through which to manifest the fact, but admits of 
none. Hence creature life is involved by the Creator 
in the whole vital organs, whether in man or the lower 
animals, the only test of which is, Do they breathe 1 
and if they do, theirexistcnce is satisfactorily demon- 
strated to every reasonable mind. This demonstra- 
tion equally settles the question that the spirits do 
not live after the body is dissolved, because they do 
not breathe. They cannot breathe without lungs, 
and the lungs are destroyed by death. 

no BEING CAN USE THE LIVING ORGANS OF ANOTHER. 

From these considerations we arrive at the funda- 
mental fact taught by Spiritualism, namely, that 
because the spirits live in and of themselves — and 
these qualifying terms add nothing to strengthen 
the fact that they live — they are able to enter into a 
medium from whose body all the vital organs have 
been removed, and to .compel that body to manifest 
all the phenomena of life, just as it did before the 
spirit separated from it. A spirit is no more depend- 
ent upon instruments outside of its living self, by 
which to make known the phenomena of life, or that 
it lives, than a living man is obliged to use and move 



194 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

the furniture in his house, and in the presence of his 
family, to prove to them that he is alive. 

Here, gentlemen Spiritualists, is your self-imposed 
task. When you perform it, all men will accept 
your teaching. When a medium dies — or, in your 
own language, when a house, form, or carcass has 
been vacated by the spirit, and the living creature 
has moved out — let there be a seance convoked. 
From this carcass let the worthless organs which we 
in our ignorance call vital be removed. Then, with 
no other medium present, let the spirits be conjured 
until one enters the empty y*?;-;;;, takes it out of the 
casket, and, to the delight of the circle, manifests all 
the phenomena of a living creature as naturally as 
though there had been no separation, and then pro- 
ceeds to transact again the same business in the 
community which he once followed. This perform- 
ance cannot fail to convince every sensible man of 
the truth of the doctrines of Spiritualism, and also to 
correct the error of physiological science, that the 
heart, lungs, stomach, etc., are vital and essential 
to life, and will forever establish the fact that it was 
the spirit alone that lived ! 

We have confined the accomplishment of this won- 
derful experiment (self-imposed by the Spiritualists), 
to the living department of animal life, and not to 
that which thinks, and therefore knows. The indi- 
vidual therefore whom the entrance of the spirit 
made to live, might have been only a perfect idiot 
who, having all the vital organs, lives, but who, with- 
out organic brain, knows nothing. Hence, as the 
most prominent dogma of the Spiritualists is the 
intelligence which the spirits manifest through the 
brain, organs of sense, and speech of the mediums, 



THE INVOLUNTARY ORGANS. I95 

the revived man must not only live, but be as in- 
telligent as before the spirit-removal took place. 
Now, what are the physical obstacles to be over- 
come in order to bring back the intellect also ? We 
have seen, by the well-known teaching of the science 
of physiology, that organic man is divided into two 
grand departments, called the " Voluntary " and 
" Involuntary ;" that .the involuntary is the living 
but unknowing part, while the thinking, knowing 
part is the voluntary, having no life. The heart, 
lungs, and stomach, with all the other vital organs, 
when taken as a whole, live, but do not think ; while 
the intellectual organs think, but do not live. 

THE inVOLUNTARY ORGANS CANNOT BE TAMPERED 
WITH. 

It is well for the mediums that the spirits seem to 
recognize the existence of these departments, and 
confine their antics to the brain and the intellectual 
faculties ; for if they tampered thus with the organs 
of life — the lungs, heart, etc. — compelling them to 
rattle off thought at the unnaturally rapid rate often 
witnessed, and then forcing the suspension of 
thought altogether, thus obliging them to increase 
their natural motions, the rapid expansions and con- 
tractions of the heart would send the blood coursing 
through the system at such speed, that burning fever 
would result from the friction, and a few repetitions 
would cause its delicate valves to give way, and the 
lungs would congest so that the medium would die 
of heart disease ; or if suspended in carrying on the 
functions of life, as the functions of the brain of the 
medium often are in carrying on thought, all would 
die together. 



196 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

Another experiment which the Spiritists should 
be compelled to perform in proof of the phenomena 
of spirit life, is to suspend the vital < rgans, so that 
the lungs do not breathe nor the heart beat for an hour, 
and then restore their functions to their normal con- 
dition. This would prove that the spirit was the life. 

This distinction of the two departments gives us 
the condition upon which the thinking part can 
act, the result of which is thought. Both being in 
the same body, the thinking part receives its force 
from the living part, which the vital organs manu- 
facture from the breath and food : therefore, if the 
intellectual department be taken out of the body, 
having no vital organs to supply them with mental 
force, they would lose all power of thinking, and of 
course of intelligence. Upon such a separation of a 
man's faculties, he would forever cease to be an in- 
telligent creature, except by a re-creation of all these 
organic powers, which, we repeat, is the grand re- 
vealed purpose of man's Creator in the resurrection 
of the dead. 

This union of the two departments in the same 
body, so that man is a living, thinking being, is not 
only a condition of human thinking in the ordinary 
manner, but lays an equal barrier in the way of the 
spirits to manifest the least intelligence through the 
mental organism of a medium. It is a fact that every 
intellectual faculty is located in the head of a man. 
Now let a spirit throw a medium into trance ; then 
let all his vital organs be removed from the body, 
leaving the head untouched by the scalpel, and if 
the medium continues to manifest intelligence — we 
care not whether it is his own or that of a foreign 
spirit who has come from the spirit land — then the 



HUMAN INTELLIGENCE. IQ/ 

doctrines of the Spiritualists will be established. 
But if the spirit fails to manifest intelligence, having 
all the mental organs of the medium at his command, 
it will demonstrate the other fact, namely, that the 
vital organs supplied something to the organic brain 
which the spirit did not possess, to make intelligence 
possible. Therefore, it is the organic brain, receiv- 
ing its force from the organs of life, which manifests 
intelligence, and not the ghosts of spiritism. 

HUMAN INTELLIGENCE 

Cannot Exist withoiit Brain, cr when it Softens ; much, less 

when Ceoomposed. 

Another condition of intelligence and its manifes- 
tation is, the existence of the cerebrum, or brain 
proper. We have seen that the intelligence mani- 
fested by what are called the mediums is in propor- 
tion to the intellectual capacity of each, other things 
being equal, whether in their normal state or in 
trance ; and that this is also in proportion to the 
size of such brain, taking into the account the degree 
of cultivation attained. We have also seen that 
mediums manifest superior intelligence while in the 
trance state, and the reason for this we infer from 
comparative anatomy that if intelligence decreases 
as the cerebrum diminishes in the size of human 
heads, then if we should find one without cerebrum 
there would be no intelligence at all ; and yet with 
the cerebellum, the source of the organs of life, such 
a person would live, but not know enough to per- 
form the least act of volition, which implies think- 
ing, reason, and will. Now if the Spiritualists will 
take such a medium who will manifest any intelli- 
gence at all by a spirit entering into his head, it will 



198 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

be absolute proof of spirit life and intelligence. Let 
him, through a perfect idiot, give a good intelligent 
lecture while in trance, and it will make no difference 
whether he reads it from the mind of any other 
person or that it is dictated by a foreign ghost with- 
in, we will be compelled to give the spirit credit for 
the performance, and we shall also be compelled to 
acknowledge that brains are not necessary to the 
possession of intellectual powers. 

REYIEW OF HENRY KIDDLE'S BOOK. 

Although the assumed ghost communications in 
this book are the most ordinary of their kind, the 
author continually declares them to be " the most 
remarkable." It contains nothing demanding par- 
ticular notice or explanation which is not already 
included in the more wonderful phenomena which 
we have examined ; still, our regard for truth 
will not allow us to pass the book in silence. 
The author seems to think he is selected from 
among the ghostly brotherhood to inundate the 
world with a flood of new light, the belief of which 
will save all men, or that all will be saved in the 
end if they do not believe a word of it, although 
their whole lives are spent in the most gross 
crime and debauchery ; indeed, that the salvation 
consists in making the ghosts who accept it the 
sooner happy. We should say, happier, for there is 
not any of the supposed ghosts who report perfect 
happiness for themselves. Indeed, there seems to 
be none so happy as those who are called by the con- 
jurers to communicate with mortals again. Theoret- 
ically the material body is esteemed both by the 
ghosts and their friends this side of the ghostly river 



HENRY kiddle's BOOK. I99 

a mere clog to their progression, and yet the de- 
parted all seem to have been tongue-tied, though in 
ghost-land for thousands of years, until they were 
blessed with the unspeakable privilege of using the 
gross organs of Mr. Kiddle's children to give vent to 
their pent-up desires. What bliss has dawned upon 
fairyland ! 

Mr. Kiddle does not assume to be the author of the 
book, but only its editor — ghost editor of the mes- 
sages ; yet he is nevertheless the veritable author, as 
its supposed ghost messages were read from his mind 
by the " familiar spirits' ' of his daughter and son, and 
returned to him as spirit messages. We mean that 
those thus read and returned were those of Mr. 
Kiddle's dead friends, with whohi he was more or 
less acquainted, or of Avhom he had been informed 
by others who knew them, including those of his- 
toric knowledge. The other messages the mediums 
caught from the minds of inquirers ; the essential 
fact being that some one living and in communica- 
tion with the medium was either acquainted person- 
ally with those about whom inquiry was made, or 
had opinions concerning them received from some 
other source. This knowledge may have been 
entirely forgotten, and yet its impress being upon 
the brain, the medium saw and read it to the person, 
and was able to recall it to their minds by associat- 
ing it with other circumstances which were remem- 
bered. Mr. Kiddle seems to think that if the medium 
did not know about the message, and was unable to 
comprehend or originate it, it must have been the 
work of the ghosts ; while the fact is, the medium 
knows nothing about these messages except as read 
from the living brain of others. 



200 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

HOHOTOKOUS SAMEKESS OF SPIRIT MESSAGES. 

The messages in this book present the peculiarity 
of sameness both in style and matter in contrast to 
all other books of a similar character. This is to be 
accounted for not because they came through the 
same mediums, but that they came from the mind of 
a single questioner, Mr. Kiddle himself. If others 
asked test questions of these mediums of which they 
had knowledge, they were answered correctly ; but 
if they related to the doctrines of Spiritism they were 
fashioned by the controlling opinions of Mr. Kiddle 
himself. If any of these answers were at variance 
with his views, they were modified by extorting an 
explanation from them, which was always given, and 
their views changed to harmonize with the sugges- 
tions proposed. The reason is that Mr. Kiddle him- 
self was the only muddled spirit. At his beck the 
ghosts of the leading ministers of Christendom were 
summoned, and were on the spot in a moment's 
time ; showing, by the way, that ghosts are not such 
things as travel, or else they were present on the 
spot, and not in heaven, for even electricity takes a 
number of minutes to travel around our little globe. 
When questioned, they all finally agreed with Mr. 
Kiddle in doctrine, and urged him on in his glorious 
work of giving the world this wonderful book. He 
had it on the brain, and the mediums confirmed the 
conceit, because they could do nothing else. We 
know nothing of Mr. Kiddle, except as he stands 
revealed in his book, which shows that if ever a man 
was inspired with conceit, it is he ; for he brings 
even the ghosts of Paul and Moses to confirm his 
preposterous views of a future world ! 

There are incidental expressions contained in these 



MR. KIDDLE THE SOLE GHOST. 20I 

messages which show them to have originated in a 
single mind : for example, that of " O God !" and 
which the written prayers Mr. Kiddle offered for the 
ghosts who were still in torment show was a phrase 
of his own. In these, however, it is employed in 
proper construction, proving Mr. Kiddle to be a 
better scholar than his ghostly friends of a hundred 
years' progressive development. 

In proof that we are correct in attributing the 
sameness in style and sentiment of the messages 
which this book contains to the all-controlling mind 
of Mr. Kiddle, let these same questions be put to 
the same supposed ghosts, and through the same 
mediums, by men entirely differing with Mr. Kiddle, 
and not in his presence or that of his sympathizers, 
and the answers will all be in opposition to those 
in the book ; or let me question them among my 
friends, and the same supposed ghosts will give 
answers in harmony with the views contained in my 
book. Here is a simple test, which, if true, shows 
that none of these messages come from ghosts, but 
are the result of the natural law which we have been 
discussing. Wich these remarks it is only necessary 
to give a few examples, with brief comments. 

MR. KIDDLE THE SOLE GHOST. 

It is as absurd to say that the communications in 
this book are revelations from ghosts, as to say that 
Mr. Kiddle is only its editor, and not its author. This 
we have already exposed. The following quotation 
upon the title-page is given such prominence as to 
show its adoption by the author : " Let no one take 
offence at the opening of this mystery, as though it 
brought any thing new into religion ; for it has noth- 



202 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

ing new in it. It alters no point of Gospel doctrine, 
but only sets each article of the old Christian faith 
upon its true ground." 

We remark, in the first place, that if ever a title- 
page belied the body of a book, then this does ; and 
we propose to alter the title to conform with the 
contents, and thereby make it true : " Let every 
Christian take offence at this unopened mystery to 
the ghost seers, as it brings nothing new or old to 
light ; for it has nothing in it but ghost sayings, 
which are as true as their apparitions. It alters no 
point of Gospel doctrine, for this is beyond its 
power ; but it misstates every Gospel doctrine, and 
sets forth not a single article of Christian faith." 

To understand any author he must be permitted 
to interpret himself ; that is, every thing he says upon 
any subject must be consulted, if we would under- 
stand his meaning. The Scriptures therefore must 
be interpreted by the same rule, and they can only 
be intelligently investigated in the same manner. Of 
course this does not admit the adoption of the opin- 
ions of others as to the meaning of any book, for 
these might have received their opinions from others 
for a hundred generations, not one of whom had in- 
vestigated the book, in order to ascertain what it 
actually taught. 

RULE OF IHTERPRETATION. 

That Mr. Kiddle is one of those who adopt the 
opinions of others in relation to the Bible, is shown 
in his book. In every attempt made to give the 
meaning of Scripture, he gives men's opinions as his 
authority, and never once quotes other passages of 
Scripture to illustrate the meaning of the one which 



RULE Ol'" INTERPRETATION. 203 

he quotes, or a garbled part of it. I-'or example, to 
prove his opinion that Christ did not die, but that 
while his body was dead he went and preached to 
the ghosts in darkness, he quotes the following 
dialogue between himself and the ghost of Judge 
Edmonds : "St. Peter said ' Christ went and preached 
unto the spirits in prison.' How do you explain that, 
Judge?" "Yes; Christ is the heavenly light that 
dawns upon them now ; for He has left His heavenly 
rays around their beings forever, and with love- 
Thus shining they cannot be in darkness." Wonder- 
ful explanation ! 

The whole passage is as follows : " For Christ also 
hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, 
that He might bring us to God, being put to death 
in the flesh, but quickened l)y the Spirit : by which 
also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison ; 
which sometime were disobedient, when once the 
longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, 
while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is 
eight souls were saved by water" (i Peter 3 : 18, 
19). In connection with this we also quote the follow- 
ing, to show that Christ's resurrection or quickening 
here referred to was done by the Spirit of God, also 
called the Spirit of Christ, for they are one. " The 
Spirit of Christ which was in them [the prophets of 
old], when it testified beforehand," etc. (i Peter i : 
11). " But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus 
from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ 
from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies 
by His Spirit that dwelleth in you" (Rom. 8 : 11). 
Here we are taught that as the Spirit of God quick- 
ened the mortal body of Christ — and as we learn in 
other places, into an immortal body — so is He to 



204 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

quicken or resurrect the dead saints into immortal 
beings, in the resurrection at the last day. 

That this preaching was done by Noah and in his 
days, as declared in the text, we quote also the 
following : " For if God spared not the angels that 
sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered 
them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto 
judgment [not to take them up into heaven again, as 
Mr. Kiddle's book teaches] ; and spared not the old 
world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher 
of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the 
world of the ungodly" (2 Peter i : 4, 5). 

Let us now turn to Genesis, and we shall see how 
God by His Spirit, by which He raised Christ from 
the dead, accompanied Noah's preaching to the ante- 
diluvian spirits (the men) in prison, after their doom 
had been pronounced, and fixed at a hundred and 
twenty years, through which preaching eight of these 
spirits were saved. " And the Lord said, Afy Spirit 
shall not always strive with man, yet his days shall 
be an hundred and twenty years. And the Lord said 
unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the 
ark ; for thee have I seen righteous before Me 
in this generation" (Gen. 6 : 3 ; 7 : i). Here then 
we are taught that God by His Spirit, with which He 
quickened Christ from the dead, strove with the in- 
habitants of the old world for a hundred and twenty 
years, while Noah was building the ark, and that it 
was with the preaching of Noah and through which 
preaching that eight of these spirits — called also by 
Peter " souls," eight souls — were saved in the ark ; 
meaning the eight persons of this righteous man's 
family. Thus did God by His Spirit go and preach 
to the spirits (or souls) in the days of Noah, while the 



SAII-ING UNDER FALSE COLORS. 20$ 

ark was preparing ; not that Christ went after He 
was crucified, and while He was dead and not yet 
quickened, preached to ghosts in the dark. How 
does this interpretation, by letting the author of the 
Bible explain Himself, correspond with Kiddle's inter- 
pretation and Judge EdmOnds' revelation ? Alas 
for the lying spirits, whether dead or living ! 

SAILING UNDER FALSE COLORS. 

The title-page of Mr. Kiddle's book claims it to be 
a " Revelation of the Future Life, illustrating and 
confirming the Fundamental Doctrines of the Chris- 
tian Faith." Any revelation of a future state must 
consist of definite conceptions and their oral or graph- 
ic representation, and the ideas conveyed must be 
literalisms ; that is, they must accord with the words 
employed as the conventional signs of the ideas or 
elements of that life ; and these elements must be 
facts of existing things. If figures or symbols are 
employed to describe these facts, they must be literal 
things, which either exist or can be conceived to 
exist. Hence all intelligent teaching is really literal. 
The object of using symbols or figures of speech is 
not to mystify, but to simplify — to render the thing 
described more comprehensible. If an author uses 
uncommon symbols and figures, he must explain 
them himself, in order to make his ideas understood. 
To show that the Author of the Scriptures is such 
a teacher, and that the Bible contains a divine reve- 
lation of the future world, we give a few illustrative 
examples. 

In the revelation of Christ to John, He showed 
him a woman ruling tlie nations of the earth and 
martyring the saints ; and He said to him, " The 



206 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

woman which thou sawest is that great city, which 
reigneth over the kings of the earth" (Rev. 17 : 18). 
In these words the woman was the symbol ; but a 
woman is a literal thing, and the city symbolized is 
also a literal thing, therefore the teaching is literal ; 
that is, according to the letter. 

Here is another: "And he saith unto me, The 
waters which thou sawest, are peoples, and multi- 
tudes, and nations, and tongues" (Rev. 17 : 15). 
Here water is the figure ; but water is a fact of exist- 
ence, a literal thing. The things prefigured are peo- 
ples, multitudes, nations, and tongues, and are also 
literalisms ; therefore the whole language, although 
figurative and symbolical, is also literal. 

We may mention also the following : " And to 
her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine 
linen, clean and white : for the fine linen is the 
righteousness of saints" (Rev. 19 : 8). " Fine linen" 
is the figure ; but is it not a literal thing ? So also 
the thing prefigured, "the righteousness of saints," 
is literal. To draw contrasts, therefore, between 
figurative and literal language is simply erroneous, 
more especially if it is attempted thereby to convey 
the idea that such teaching is mystical ; and for this 
reason it is still more unjustifiable thus to charac- 
terize the teachings of the Holy Scriptures. What 
would be thought of the mental calibre of a man who 
should say that the " Pilgrim's Progress" — perhaps 
the most figurative book in existence — could not be 
understood because its language was figurative ? 

The doctrines of Scripture are the revelations of the 
future life ; and as Christ is the teacher of those doc- 
trines and the dispenser of that life, the system is 
therefore called Christianity. In opposition to Mr, 



god's kingdom on earth. 207 

Kiddle's declaration that his book illustrates and 
confirms the doctrines of the Christian faith — even its 
fundamental doctrines — wc say that there is not a 
single doctrine of the Christian faith, cither funda- 
mental or not, adopted, defended, confirmed, or 
illustrated in his book. 

Let us contrast its doctrines of a future life witli 
those of ghostism. Christians are promised an end- 
less inheritance in a kingdom called " the kingdom 
of God," "the kingdom of his dear Son," "the 
kingdom of heaven," to be established by Christ, 
when He comes at the end of this world for that 
purpose. At that event the present world is to be 
dissolved by fire into its elements, and He is to re- 
create it into a world of endless duration, called " the 
world to come," the new heavens (or firmament) and 
new earth, the prehistoric record of which is given in 
the last two chapters of Revelation. This kingdom 
is " UNDER the w/iolc heaven'' (Dan. 7 : 27). In antici- 
pation of this reign, John hears the whole redeemed 
inhabitants singing " a new song, saying, Thou art 
worthy to take the book, and to open the seven seals 
thereof : for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us 
to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and 
tongue, and people, and nation ; and hast made us 
unto our God kings and priests : and we shall reign 
on the earth'' (Rev. 5 : 9, 10). 

God's Kingdom net in the SKY, but on the EARTH. 
Ghostism believes that the kingdom is now exist- 
ing, and is called "the kingdom on high," "the 
spirit home above," etc. There are no such expres- 
sions in the whole Bible as " the kingdom of heaven 
abOi'C," "the kingdom of God on high," or "the 



2o8 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

heavenly world on high,"" or any thing like them. 
Jesus Christ is to be this king, and His immortal 
body, after its resurrection — composed of " flesh 
and bones," and v/hich He declared was not a 
spirit — is the embodiment of the Godhead : "In 
Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" 
(Col. 2 : 9). But ghostism robs Christ of all glory, 
and reduces Him to a mere spirit medium, and it is 
asserted by some of the most intelligent and oldest 
Spiritualists that He carried on His deceptions by 
materializing and dematerializing Himself while on 
earth ! 

The immortality brought to light by the Gospel 
makes it depend upon the resurrection of the dead. 
Prior to that, all the dead, and even the saints, 
have perished ; and if the resurrection never occurs 
the Gospel is a lie, and no sinner can be pardoned. 
" Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the 
dead, how say some among you that there is no resur- 
rection of the dead ? But if there be no resurrection 
of the dead, then is Christ not risen : and if Christ 
be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your 
faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false wit- 
nesses of God ; because we have testified of God that 
he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so 
be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, 
then is not Christ raised : and if Christ be not raised, 
your faith is vain ; ye are yet in your sins. Then 
they Mso which are fallen asleep in Christ are 
perished" (i Cor. 15 : 12-18). 

The order of the resurrection, chronologically, is 
thus given in the same chapter : " For since by man 
came death, by man came also the resurrection of the 
dead. But every man in his own order : Christ the 



GIIOSTISM AND FUTURE LIFE CONTRASTED. 2C9 

firstfruits : afterward they that are Christ's ai his 
coming" (i Cor. 15 : 21, 23). 

Here the doctrine is taught that had Christ re- 
mained as He was after His crucifixion, dead, the 
saints would also forever have remained dead, and 
all had perished. As a consequence, there would have 
been no Christ alive, no future life for the saints, 
and therefore no Gospel of such life. This is the 
fundamental doctrine, therefore, of the Christian 
system. But ghostism declares not only that there 
is no resurrection of the dead, but no death at all. 
The death of Christ to save sinners was not only un- 
necessary, but it never occurred at all ; and sinners 
are saved by the spiritual fires of purgatory, as 
taught by such heathen philosophers as Socrates 
and Plato, and more prominently defended in Mr. 
Kiddle's book than in any other exposition of ghost 
literature. How does such a book " confirm Christian 
faith, without altering a point of gospel doctrine" ? 

GHOSTISM AND FUTURE LIFE COKTRASTED. 

Ghostism says the man proper is immortal, and 
moves out of the bony carcass at the event we call 
death. In contradiction to this statement Jesus 
Christ declares that He alone possesses immortality— 
" the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, 
and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality," 
(iTim. 6: 15). This is an object of Christian faith imd 
hope to be sought for, and is to be conferred upon 
the saints in the resurrection at the last day. The 
Gospel brings the true doctrine of immortality to 
light, and shows that when it is conferred it abolishes 
death upon those to whom it is given. Hence we 
have the following Scripturci : "But is now made 



2IO KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus 
Clirist, who hath abolished death, and hath brought 
life and immortality to light through the gospel" 
(2 Tim. I : 10). 

That this great boon, of which the Gospel is the 
tidings, is to be given by Christ to the saints at the 
resurrection of the last day, He Himself affirmed 
when He said, " I am the resurrection, and the 
LIFE : whosoever believeth in me, though he were 
dead, yet shall he live" (John 11 : 25). " Behold, I 
shew you a mystery ; We shall not all sleep, but we 
shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling 
of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall 
sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible [This 
will make them live forever, because an incorrupti- 
ble living thing cannot die], and we shall be changed. 
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and 
this mortal must put on immortality. So when this 
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this 
mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be 
brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is 
swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy 
sting ? O grave, where is thy victory ?" (i Cor. 15 : 

51-55)- 

It is admitted on all hands that the body is the 
mortal part of man ; and that that dies, or is dead, 
when the supposed immortal part is gone out of it. 
Well then, here we see that it is the mortal part that 
puts on the immortality ! Hence it is the dead 
bodies of the saints which are to live again ; and this 
is the Christian doctrine of resurrection j just as it was 
the dead body of Christ, the first-fruits of the resur- 
rection, which lived again. 

That this is the consummation of the Christian's 



KIDDLE S DOCTRINES. 211 

hope, for which he waits in faitli, is further con- 
firmed thus : " To them who by patient continuance 
in well doing seek for glory and honor and immor- 
tality, eternal life : but unto them that are conten- 
tious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighte- 
ousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and 
anguish, upon every soul of man that doth evil, of 
the Jew first, and also of the Gentile" (Rom. 2 : 

7-9)- 

Here we have a plain statement of the Christian 
doctrine of immortality, eternal life, rewards and 
punishments, and the resurrection of the dead, which 
are to take place simultaneously at the return of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, and at the end of this world ; 
every one of which are denied by the ghost messages 
of Mr. Kiddle's book ; and yet the author says his 
book " alters not a point of Christian doctrine" ! I 
wonder if he ever saw or heard of a very old book 
called " The Bible" ? Having every reason to sup- 
pose he is a stranger to this book, let me add, for his 
enlightenment, that the phrases " man's immor- 
tality," " the immortal soul," " immortal spirit," 
or the " immortal " any tiling but God, are never once 
used in the Bible, or promised to the saints. 

KICDLE'S DOCTRINES ARE HEATHEN PHILOSOPHY. 

Mr. Kiddle has doubtless read the discourse of 
Socrates to his friends on the day of his execution, 
and that of Plato on " the Formation of the World." 
These philosophers teach the immortality of the soul, 
judgment at death, purgatory after death, and a 
deliverance therefrom by the prayers of the living ; 
all of which are the doctrines of Mr. Kiddle's book, 
and of course adopted from these heathen philoso- 



212 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

phers. This is only a renewal of the old warfare of 
Heathenism against Christianity, which the adoption 
of these old heathen fables by this book vindicates. 

DIFFEREHT HYPOTHESES OF IMMORTALITY. 

In relation to the question of immortality, there are 
apparently three hypotheses. The first is that when 
a man dies he as really goes out of conscious exist- 
ence as though he had never lived, and so remains 
until the resurrection at the end of this world ; and 
this is virtually a new creation of the whole man. 
The second hypothesis is that what is called death is 
only a separation of the living, thinking, feeling, and 
immortal soul from the mortal body in which it as a 
tenant resides, leaving the body dead. It is to come 
back and revive it at the end of the world. But this 
body is really explained to be a spirit, or of such a 
nature that it does not occupy space. The third 
hypothesis is that which is held by the Spiritualists : 
That the spirit is the living, knowing inhabitant of 
the mortal form, or body, and is by nature immortal ; 
that it moves out of the body at what we call death, 
and is never again permanently united to another 
body ; that the form thus vacated is virtually anni- 
hilated, or resolved back into its elements, like other 
perishable bodies. The last two of these hypotheses 
are so similar that they are virtually but one ; equally 
denying the resurrection of the real body of flesh and 
bones, that died. 

Every item of the Christian doctrine of resurrec- 
tion is opposed and completely reversed by Spirit- 
ualism. It teaches that the man proper does not die ; 
that Christ and His saints did not die. In fact, that 
there is no death, only separation. The Bible, how- 



THE RESURRECTION CHANGE. 21 3 

ever, teaches tliat unless a man is dead he cannot be 
raised from the dead, and therefore can have no part 
in its resurrection. Ghostism teaches that, that form 
or body which the living man vacates remains thus 
forever, or is decomposed into its natural elements. 
It claims that the language of the Bible descriptive of 
this event admits of an explanation in harmony with 
these views of the resurrection, and that the living 
immortal part puts on its resurrection body — what- 
ever that may be — at the time of this separation. 

THE RESURRECTION CHANGE. 

In this light let us examine the language descrip- 
tive of the changes through which the resurrection 
body passes at this event. " For one star differelh 
from another star in glory. So also is the resurrec- 
tion of the dead. It is sown in corruption [it dies 
because it is corrupt] ; it is raised in incorruption. 
For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be 
raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. So 
when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, 
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is 
written. Death is swallowed up in victory" (i Cor. 

15 : 41, 42, 52-54)- 

Here we see that it is ihz corruptible which died 
and was dead that /«/ on the incorruption. But 
Spiritualism says it was the incorruptible that put on 
the corruptible ; and another class say the incorrupt- 
ible puts on the incorruptible, which is grossly 
absurd. It was the incorruptible in the separation 
which cast off the corruptible, and now in the resur- 
rection or reunion it is the incorruptible which 
returns and puts on the corruptible, and therefore 
becomes the same corrupt being as before the sepa- 



214 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

ration took place — consequently, a corrupt living 
man, just as susceptible of death as ever. 

" It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory." It 
is that which died in dishonor that was raised in 
glory, and not that which survived and did not die 
at all. In death it put on the dishonor, and in the 
resurrection it put on the glory. But Spiritualism 
says it was the glorious which put off the dishonora- 
ble at death, and here it is the glorious which comes 
back again and puts on the inglorious ; the dishonor- 
able dead body becoming just such a being as it was 
before the separation. That which he puts off is the 
same as that he puts on, in both of these changes. 
It was the glorious tenant that moved out of the in- 
glorious house, but now returns and puts it on 
again : hence is the same man revived. 

"It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power," 
The man was weak, and therefore fell a victim to 
death ; but the resurrection change gives him a 
nature no more liable to weakness or death ; and it 
is this weak dead body which puts on the powerful 
resurrected body. Now if it was the powerful body 
that was separated from the weak carcass, which 
returns and puts it on again, then the man becomes 
the same weak creature he was before, with all his 
previous liabilities. 

THE COMHOH HYPOTHESIS ABSURD. 

If it is denied that he ever puts on any thing after 
he puts it off at death (and it makes no difference to 
the argument when or what it is), then he who denies 
puts himself in still greater antagonism to this teach- 
ing of the Bible. Nothing is clearer than that man is 
something in the resurrection whiqh he is not in 



THE COMMON IIYrOTIIESIS ABSURD. 21 5 

death ; and that which he receives in every item of 
the change is not that which he possessed before. 

" It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual 
body." As these two bodies are here contrasted, 
they cannot be the same. We also see that in this 
resurrection one of the bodies puts on the other, and 
of course becomes one with it by incorporation. The 
doctrine of the Spiritualists is that the spiritual body 
puts off the natural body at what we call death. 
That then the natural body has no life or intelli- 
gence ; but the spiritual body has both. Now as the 
lifeless unknowing body cannot perform the action 
which this putting on implies, it must be the spirit- 
ual body that puts on the natural body, and that 
makes the nature of the man just what it was before 
it was put off. The other alternative is that the 
natural body was raised from the dead and became a 
spiritual body ; of which Christ's resurrection body 
was the example, having His own natural flesh and 
bones — and lie declared He was not a spirit. What 
He was after His resurrection gives us an exemplifi- 
cation of a spiritual body. 

The last item in the resurrection change is thus 
stated : " And this mortal must put on immortality. 
So when this mortal shall have put on immortalit}^ 
then shall be brought to pass the saying," etc. 

That the immortality is to be put on either at the 
separation called death or at a future time, proves it 
was not possessed by the man while he was living 
in the body ; and therefore that man has not an 
immortal soul or spirit by nature, or in this life ; 
and, as it is held that tlie spirit is immortal, it could 
not put on immortality when the body dies or in the 
resurrection, come when it will ; for immortality 



2l6 KEY TO GHOSTISr 

cannot put on immortality. Neither can it be that 
the immortality, or immortal spirit, comes back and 
takes the mortal body, or puts on mortality, as such 
an act would make it a mortal spirit, or a mortal 
man, just as he was before death ; who must there- 
fore die again, because mortal. Besides, it contra- 
dicts the doctrine stated, that it is the mortal that/-///^ 
071 the immortal ; therefore making the mortal man 
himself immortal. 

SUHMIHG UP THE ARaUMEKT. 

In summing up this argument we call attention to 
the fact that the Spiritualistic hypothesis puts noth- 
ing on, but every thing off, when the immortal 
inhabitant separates from the mortal habitation. 

We have seen that the Christian doctrine repre- 
sents man " a natural body." Not having a natural 
body, but being himself such a body. It is a weak 
body, a dishonorable body, a corrupt body, and a 
mortal body. Because of these elements the man 
falls into the ruins of inglorious death and the victory 
of the grave. But He who made him has promised to 
remake His saints, or resurrect them from death and 
the grave, at the end of this world. In passing through 
this change the weak comes forth to power, the dis- 
honorable to glory, the natural to spiritual, the cor- 
ruptible to incorruption, and the mortal to immor- 
tality. It is the man who was too weak to live 
longer, and died, that was raised to power. It was 
the dishonored with the elements of death — the work 
of sin, coursing through his system — who was raised 
to glory. It was the " natural man," inheriting 
death from Adam, that was raised a spiritual body. 
It was the corruptible man that died, who came forth 



SUMMING UP THE ARGUMENT. 21/ 

the incorruptible. It was the mortal man who died — 
and he died because he was mortal — that was raised 
to immortality. This resurrection or vitalization was 
not produced by the immortal soul, or spirit, enter- 
ing into the dead, but by the energy of the Creator 
Himself. 

Those who believe that the immortal spirit or soul 
will come again into the dead at the last day, and 
thus vitalize them, must see that it will be at the 
expense of their own immortality — that is, if they 
believe the resurrection is to take place according to 
the written word of God which we have been consid- 
ering ; for the incorruptible spirit putting on the 
corruptible body will make itself corruptible. The 
immortal soul putting on the mortal body will render 
the whole mortal, and therefore again susceptible of 
death. If the spiritual puts on the natural, it will 
itself become natural. In a word, such a resurrec- 
tion or reunion, let it take place when it will, brings 
the man back again to the same nature he now 
possesses. 

Those who do not believe in any resurrection at 
all — such as Svvedenborg, Judge Edmonds, and Mr. 
Superintendent Kiddle — place themselves in the most 
perfect contradiction to the fundamental doctrines of 
the Christian faith. Does it therefore become any of 
the authors and defenders of such an hypothesis to 
print on the title-pages of their books (as Mr. Kiddle 
has done), that it " presents a revelation of future 
life, illustrating and confirming the fundamental 
doctrines of the Christian faith," declaring that " it 
alters not a point of Gospel doctrine"? 

To give our readers an idea of the supposed im- 
portance of his book, wc quote the following from 



2l8 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

Mr. Kiddle's preface : " It is true many other books 
— some of them of the deepest interest to mankind — 
have been published, presenting various views of this 
great subject ; but the time is now ripe for the higher 
aspects of spirit intercourse to be exhibited ; and 
hence this book has been dictated. Twenty-three 
years ago it was predicted : ' Spiritualism will make a 
new edition of the great volume of Christianity, with 
additional notes and explanations that shall make 
the soul's immortality a tangible reality, and will 
unfold anew the teachings of Jesus to those who seek 
for it in true godliness, in the spirit of truth, aq,d in 
purity of heart.' This prediction is, in part at least, 
realized by the publication of this volume." 

SWEDSWBORS ADOPTED. 

It seems very clear to us that the doctrines of 
Ghostism, as held by Mr. Kiddle, came from Judge 
Edmonds' book on Spiritualism, published in 1853 ; 
and equally clear that the Judge did not obtain them 
from the supposed ghost of Swedenborg, but from 
his writings. Swedenborg himself was a trance 
medium, and obtained his doctrines just as Andrew 
Jackson Davis did ; and instead of being mediums, 
they are originators of the vagaries that float through 
their magnetic brain, not a statement of which is 
worthy of the least confidence unless it is verified by 
human knowledge. 

The ghost messages of Judge Edmonds occupy a 
large portion of Mr. Kiddle's book, urging the latter 
to make this great book, which would do the work 
Edmonds thought his own book would do ; and if it 
failed, how can the vastly weaker production of the 
Superintendent succeed ? Swedenborg was ignorant 



SWEDENBORG ADOPTED. 219 

of the doctrines of the Bible, and he concocted his 
speculative theory of a future state from his trance 
visions. Edmonds, like many of his admirers, was 
inclined to adopt some religious belief instead of his 
skepticism at the time his attention was called to 
Spiritualism. That of Swedenborg being the most 
congenial, because the most marvellous, he took the 
shortest cut to make it conform to Ghostism ; for 
which purpose he obtained the services of a medium 
by the name of George E. Dexter, M.D., and pursued 
the investigations between themselves ; the medium 
reading from the brain of Edmonds returned the 
information in the shape of messages from Sweden- 
borg. The mind of the medium always being 
superior while in the trance state, caught from the 
brain of the Judge, at the first stage of their work, 
the crude ideas of Swedenborg's views, reduced them 
to plausible form, and clothed them with such 
language as he supposed Swedenborg himself would 
have used. Hence originated Edmonds' doctrines 
of Spiritualism. Mr. Kiddle read these productions, 
and became a convert to the same sentiments. These 
his son and daughter, who were mediums, read from 
his brain, and under the control of his mind as the 
questioner they were returned as communications 
from the supposed ghosts. Both the questioner and 
the questioned— or the father and children— labored 
under a common delusion. Hence the whole of these 
clairvoyant doctrines originated in the magnetic 
sleep of Swedenborg, which accounts for the superi- 
ority of his reasoning and the high order of his 
sophistry. 



220 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

A GHOSTLY BLASPHEMER. 

That these reciprocal influences and effects were 
thus received and transmitted is certain, as our quo- 
tations from Mr. Kiddle and Judge Edmonds' books 
will prove. It is evident from the discovery by Mr. 
Kiddle of the mediumship of his daughter that he 
supposed the time had come for him to write a book; 
and that if a treatise came from a man of his celeb- 
rity it would accomplish the work of establishing 
Spiritualism under the guise of Christianity, which 
Edmonds had expected from his book ; and he was 
so informed by the spirits. 

We commence with the following communication, 
purporting to be from Judge Edmonds : 

" On a subsequent occasion, only the medium [Mr. 
Kiddle's daughter Emma] and her husb:and, L, F. 
Weismann, being present, the latter inquired of the 
same spirit [that of his dead daughter Mary, famil- 
iarly called MoUie] in regard to the book published 
by Judge Edmonds on Spiritualism, Mr. Weismann 
having recently perused it, and received the follow- 
ing responses : God is the author of it, through His 
love to all His people. Judge Edmonds was God's 
instrument, through whom it was written for the 
instruction of all God's creatures. Those who do 
not believe will be sorry, when it will be too late, 
that they were so blind." 

Here is the positive averment, from the spirit of 
Mr. Kiddle's daughter, that God is the author of 
Edmonds' book. Pray, why should God want Mr. 
Kiddle to edit a book without an idea in it not 
already in that of Edmonds, and whose composition 
is vastly inferior to it ? The following was then 



A GHOSTLY BLASPHEMER. 221 

written by Judge Edmonds : " My dear friends, may 
God send His holy blessings upon your heads, to 
help your onward work of God's high love to all 
good souls of righteousness ! Be good heavenly 
people — soul and body. Never fear what you know 
is for good, and hope ever ; for all heavenly benedic- 
tion will help your cause. Forever we bless you in 
God's name. Amen." 

The editor (Mr. Kiddle) then said, " Can you give 
any advice, in order that these communications may 
be made to serve God's purposes ?" And it was im- 
mediately written : " Yes, oh yes ! Help, help, help, 
always help your people to see the light of Heaven's 
world of glory. Hope ever to feel the best to favor 
your praiseworthy mission. Much will be your 
reward. Never fear to tell because of derision. You 
have all the means requisite for your purpose. Better 
prepare a book^ through the medium, as a heavenly 
proof to show that your light is not forever lost to 
God's creative powers, with many blessings from all 
above to show their love and heavenly protection. 
What possible fear can you have of failure ? Do 
hasten to help your life to come. Here we are 
watching, hoping, and praying that we may people 
our world of happiness by your mighty help through 
us, your designers of good. This will show that your 
mind's altitude is above this earthly world, and 
heaven is your home. Judge." It was then asked by 
the editor, " Will my friend W. Belden tell me 
whether or not he is in a happy state of being ?" To 
this the following response came : " Yes, indeed ! 
You need scarcely ask me that, when I feel God's 
love is so strong that I could move a mountain b\' 
His permission to do so. Be faithful ; your God is 



222 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

everywhere, to help His creatures to their high life. 
Will you not strive to do what He almost commands, 
by ever praying for His aid ? Better write a book as 
the Judge would wish ; and I am sure you will save 
many from damnation." 

BOOK OH THE BRAIK. 

Then came a change, and it was written : " My 
dear friend, I, the Judge, am here again. Don't fear 
that I will intrude often. I wish only to offer my 
heartiest sympathy, to prepare your mind, and 
hasten your work for all." 

" William Belden was an intimate friend and asso- 
ciate of the editor of this work, for many years. He 
died about 1857, and wrote the following : ' Better 
pray for God's assistance with regard to the book 
you are contemplating ; and you will be astonished 
with what success you will meet, if your heart is for 
the benefit of God's souls in darkness. Teach them 
their blackness of heart, by opening their eyes to 
their future bright home, with God and heavenly 
companions. We do not think you need be very 
particular in your first chapters. Merely a statement 
of facts coming from you, Henry Kiddle, will be 
considerable satisfaction for many unbelievers, who 
need awakening sadly. Their Holy Bible is not 
sufficient proof of God's life hereafter, with which it 
is full. Better not speak of that at first : it will only 
be throwing goodness to the dogs.' " 

In regard to the awkwardness of these sentences, 
we may say it is rather uncommon for such messages ; 
but as it is the work of him who asks and she who 
answers (principally the former), he is responsible 
for it. In this case, however, it cannot be attributed 



BOOK UN THE liRAIX. 223 

to the want of intelligence ; and the only way we can 
account for it is the supposition that conversation on 
religious matters is rather a new thing with these 
parties. We have seen this illustrated by the speech 
of very intelligent men who suddenly became re- 
ligious, but who at first were scarcely able to frame 
a smooth sentence about religion. It is also a fact 
that the grade of intelligence both as to the matter 
and manner of these messages, though coming from 
the same ghost, is in proportion to that of the ques- 
tioner, slightly modified by the supposed medium. 
Hence, when Swedenborg talks to Mr. Kiddle, and 
through his medium, the ideas and language are 
very much more commonplace than with Edmonds 
through Dr. Dexter, his medium. That this may be 
seen, we introduce a ghost message from Swedenborg 
to Kiddle and Edmonds. In Mr. Kiddle's book, on 
page 281, we have the following : 

In the small family circle of the 28th of December 
(and it is of interest to say that no generally impor- 
tant communication, such as those recorded in this 
chapter, has been written in the presence of a pro- 
miscuous company, however small) a desire was 
expressed to receive a message from the spirit of the 
illustrious Swedish seer, Emanuel Swedenborg. The 
f llowing was written : 

" Swedenborg. I am the man [this spirit says he 
was a ffiaii] who was in the communion of saints 
born. [What ambiguity for such an illustrious per- 
sonage !] My dear kind and humble brethren in 
God, I am the man called Swedenborg, who lived 
many years ago in the everlasting truth of God, and 
having the hope that the world here was to be regen- 
erated in spirit through the efforts of ourselves, the 
chosen of God. To me the truth of spirit commu- 
nion gave a supreme strength, and I felt the light 
dawn upon mc as a beacon in a dark and stony path ; 



224 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

and to me at once came the greatness of God which 
passeth all understanding. Hence, I felt it was my 
duty to make it the great object of my life, to the 
best of my strength given to me by God, to help the 
unenlightened to see the great end and masterly 
influence of a man's life on earth. But I must con- 
fess my powers v/ere not adequate to the case ; and 
O my Saviour, God Almighty ! how can I express 
my maddening ambition to do more ! — to elevate, to 
convince, to bring unto God the weak, or falsely 
instructed as to their great happiness and the great 
duties of man toward man — to teach him to work for 
his life to come [his great ambition was to teach men 
to work for their life to come, and consequently to earn 
it ; but the Scripture teaches the life to come to be 
the. gift of God : " for the wages of sin is death ; but 
the gift of God is eternal life through our Lord Jesus 
Christ :" Rom. 6 : 23], to help each to bear his 
burden, and thus to lighten his ov/n heavy load of 
trials, which all of us must bear for God and 
eternity. But man is seliish in aim, he is foolish 
in pride, he is antagonistic to God and god-like 
qualities, and he is losing his home in the man- 
sions above ; and this, alas ! my strength is too 
small to prevent. [If God had chosen him and his 
friends Edmonds and Kiddle to regenerate the 
spiritual world, then it was God who had failed, and 
not the instruments.] Then, kind friends, be en- 
treated to seek truth and happiness for yourselves 
and others ; for by God is your life demanded ; and 
He, in love, has given you the power to prepare a 
glad home in which you may meet together above. 
And only at your own decision does your Master 
above you wait (but in love only) for you to make 
the right choice of life. I am only a man, you will 
say, and have no right to preach ; but God forbid 
that my mite should be for wrong or falseness ; and, 
God be praised, I have the strength to benefit the 
world, if they will open their hearts for the benedic- 
tion of God. I am, in the esteem which comes from 
the harmony of the spheres, your humble friend in 
the work, Swedenborg, in hope." 



SWEDENBORG AND JUDGE EDMONDS. 225 



SWEDENBORG AND JUDGE EDMONDS. 

An intermission of the writing occurred while this 
message was read, after which the editor said : 

" If Swedenborg is here, will he explain the mean- 
ing of the harmony of the spheres ?" The following 
response was written : "I am Swedenborg, and I 
will explain the harmony of the spheres. By har- 
mony we mean the happy union of kindred souls 
through the grace of God. We are the spirits born 
of flesh and blood, now grown into the full force of 
a spirit, without the distractions of the body — the 
covering for our proper use on earth. My dear 
friends, choose the harmony of your lives here, and 
leave God to set you upon your congenial state after 
the door of earth is closed upon you. Bring your- 
selves into the closest harmony in every way with 
good things, not voluptuous living. Always enjoy 
earthly things in a moderate degree, and with full 
thankfulness to the Ordainer of your existence. 
Many are the congenial offerings we bring one to 
another. In every sense, both in thought and deed, 
we reap the fulness of perfection in every thing — 
such kindness has God bestowed ! — but this, too, 
only in proportion to the strength with which we 
have fortified our lives in the world on earth. For 
many in the spheres of harmony, it is the duty, or, 
much better, the gratification of their heavenly state, 
to show, as upon earth, all the brightness and good- 
heartedness possible ; others are more in the posses- 
sion of steadiness of spirit, and are comforters to the 
sick and needy ; while others are gifted with better 
strength, according to the blessing of God. And for 
all this we are to prepare, and God will satisfy us 
forever. Swedenborg." 

Behold the barrenness of ideas in this long message 
from the illustrious Emanuel Swedenborg, which 
may be said in a single sentence, thus : Syinpaihize 



226 KEY TO GHOSTISM, 

«'////, and do good to each other ! Here is the expla- 
nation of the marvellous harmonial philosophy of 
Andrew Jackson Davis, and must be the true one, 
coming, as it does, from its inventor, Swedenborg 
himself. At least this is Mr. Kiddle's idea of it 
which his daughter magnetically read from his brain 
and wrote back for his edification. When, however, 
we quote from Swedenborg with Judge Edmonds the 
questioner and Dr. Dexter the medium, we find him 
discoursing in a very different style, and presenting 
his philosophy of the harmony of the spheres so 
much higher intellectually, that no one would sup- 
pose for a moment it was the same Swedenborg. 
We quote the following from Judge Edmonds* and 
Dr. Dexter's book on Spiritualism, published in 
1853, at which time we bought and read it : 

Thursday, April 21, 1853 : At a circle, at Dr. 
Dexter's house, it was written through him : "In 
order that we may arrive at a proper understanding 
of our subject, I would suggest again that Judge 
Edmonds be selected to propose questions for the 
circle, that I may answer in this stage of my teach- 
ings such questions as you may propose. Sweden- 
borg." I inquired if he wanted us to ask now, or 
would he defer them to another evening, as I had 
left my questions at home, and should have to go for 
them. It was answered : " I am about to conclude 
a certain portion of one part of my lectures, and 
therefore I certainly desire that you should ask ques- 
tions. [Why could the ghost not conclude the 
lecture without being questioned ? We answer, 
because the questioner called the mind of the 
medium to the subject about which he, the ques- 
tioner, was thinking.] I left the house accordingly, 
and went to my own home to get my papers. While 
I was gone, it was written : " But while the Judge is 
absent, I should say that there is oftentimes an entire 



SWEDENBORG AND JUDGE EDMONDS. 22/ 

impossibilitv of communicating with circles. The 
necessity of having every thing harmonious is so 
great, that when there is an interruption of the full 
flow of the electric current, and an entire absence of 
passiveness of the mind of the medium, that it pre- 
vents communications, and at the same time develops 
another principle, which acts antagonistically to the 
spirit influence. It becomes very important, too, that 
the minds of the circle should be directed to the sub- 
ject discussed by the spirits, so that the nervous 
properties may readily be seized, to open a more free 
intercourse with the medium. It is said that when 
the human voice is tuned to the key of any glass 
body and the voice is continued at a loud tone for 
any length of time at the key-tone of the glass, the 
Mass will break into a thousand pieces. Thus with 
spirit intercourse. When the minds of both circle 
and spirit correspond, there is a power engendered 
which seems to break the bonds of materiality, [the 
illustration of the glass rather establishes the bonds 
of materialitv, and breaks the supposed spirit inter- 
course into a thousand pieces !] and opens a new view 
to both the spirit and man. Yes, my friends, the key- 
note of the soul is touched, and nature responds 
through man in one glorious chord of harmony with 
immortality." 

Here we have the trance views of the medium him- 
self ; and if we drop the word spirit as a third party 
and continue that of electricity, nervous properties, 
etc., we have the key to the principle of this whole 
intercourse between the medium and the questioner, 
or any other member of the circle who makes the 
strongest impression upon the mind of the medium 
at the time. It is thus when a number of persons are 
present in a circle, each desiring to know certain 
things, that the medium is compelled to leave the 
particular questioner, and to answer the mental ques- 
tions of others in the circle. It is thus also thai the 



228 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

medium discovers surrounding adverse influences 
which interrupt the electrical mental current, by 
pressing opposite ideas upon his mind as well as from 
those ideas they themselves entertain ; thus directing 
the minds of the circle from discussing the desired 
subject ; which results, as this medium Dr. Dexter 
admits, in rendering it impossible to communicate at 
all. We have ourselves, by a mere mental effort, pre- 
vented an entire circle from further communicating ; 
and that, too, in the midst of what was called won- 
derful manifestations. 

DO GHOST CHILDREM GROW IH GHOSTLAKD ? 

But now the Judge has returned with his written 
questions, and speaks as follows : " After my return 
to the room, I propounded this question : On Thurs- 
day you said children do not grow in size in the 
spirit land faster than on earth. On Friday, I heard 
read a beautiful and otherwise instructive communi- 
cation from the spirit world, which says they do. 
Which is right, and why this discrepancy ? [Were I 
questioning this ghost of Swedenborg he would have 
been made to declare that they do thus grow, and 
they do not thus grow ; and if any one could believe 
his communications after that, they could believe a 
false as well as a true witness.] It was answered : I 
teach you in accordance with God's laws, both on 
earth and in the spirit world." 

[While Bishop Hughes is made to renounce Roman- 
ism, and Bishop Janes Methodism, Swedenborg is 
permitted to hold to the doctrines he taught on earth. 
Why is this ? We answer, because Kiddle and Ed- 
monds desired to have it so. This the mediums read 
from their brain, as the controlling spirits, and con- 



no GIlOST CHILDREN GROW IN GIIOSTLANI) ? 229 

firmed it by magnetic writing ; for they could do 
nothing else.] 

" Therefore, when I have said any thing seemingly 
incompatible with the operation of those laws, and 
which to your minds does not correspond with what 
you know of the effect of laws which is apparent, then 
you have good right to question the correctness of 
my teaching. But I have taught you that God has in- 
stituted laws predicated upon principles coeval with 
Himself, and therefore He cannot depart from them." 

This doctrine of Swedenborg was understood both 
by Dexter and Edmonds, and is that upon which 
their ideas of an impersonal God, or any God at all 
except the universe, with which all their writings 
upon the subject confound Him, rest, making them 
Pantheists. While Ghostism prates about God — or 
" good," as Kiddle designates Him — in opposition to 
materialism, it is itself nothing but materialism ; and 
when defined by the most intellectual minds among 
its defenders, shows their conception of God to be 
the laws, motions, operations, or phenomena of 
nature. This is expressed in the words we have 
quoted above as the Swedenborgian doctrine. As 
the laivs of nature cannot be disconnected from Nature 
herself, she is enslaved by them. So is this Panthe- 
istic God thus connected, and equally enslaved. 

If we pay particular attention to the doctrine here 
taught, we cannot fail to see that it involves a natural 
impossibility ; and as it is the basis of the ghostly 
philosophy, that also is left without a foundation. 
God instituted laws or principles coeval with Himself. 
The word coeval means, one of the same age ; one 
who begins to exist at the same time. Now if God 
and these laws and principles are coeval, then they 



230 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

are of twin age, and began to exist together. There- 
fore one did not produce the other. If God instituted 
the laws, then He had prior existence, and is no more 
a part of nature than a thing instituted by a man 
is a part of the man himself. And if God instituted 
laws for the disposition and government of matter 
or the operations of nature, He can change them at 
His pleasure. He is no more bound by them than a 
man is bound to continue the operation or existence 
of his own institutions. But the absurdity here ex- 
pressed is only a specious sophistry to cover up a 
heartless profession of belief in God, and betrays 
the materialistic view that all the God there is came 
into existence at the same time and is of the same 
age as the laws and principles of the universe which 
are coeval with each other, and is therefore the same 
thing. 

But we go on with the ghost message : " Now 
spirit possesses organization, and is subject to the 
laws of that organization as well as you on earth 
are subject to the laws of materiality. The effect of 
the laws operating on our organization is almost 
precisely the same as the laws operating on yours. 
We are divested, it is true, of the grosser particles of 
your nature, and we are spared all the evils which 
that organization induces, yet we do not live here 
by any special administration of the power of God, 
neither is the spirit world conducted by miracle. 
[This shows there is no God of life or power in their 
system. There is no miracle in keeping these ghosts 
alive, or conducting their business ; it is all natural.] 
Work and live ; we work, we toil, we develop just as 
you do on earth, only internally [does man on earth 
develop externally, or grow like an inorganic thing ? 



DO GHOST CHILDREN GROW IN GIIOSTLAND? 23 I 

which is the idea conveyed by this contrast], v.liich is 
the essence of the everlasting principle of God Him- 
self [as it emanated from Him], expanding in a greater 
ratio than does the body. [Here God Himself is an 
essence, a principle ; and is that upon which the 
ghosts grow, and in a greater ratio than does the 
body here. It is an emanation from Him, and there- 
fore a part of Himself. Here again we have Pan- 
theistic materialism expressed in the strongest man- 
ner.] Take no statements, therefore, that are not 
based on laws satisfactory to your judgment ; and 
depend upon it, that when any revelation is made 
having the garment of marvellousness wrapped about 
it, that either it is a compound of the medium's im- 
a<^ination, or it emanates from some spirit whose ve- 
racity is to be doubted. [As there is not a single 
supposed ghost message which has not the garment 
of the marvellous wrapped about it, therefore the ad- 
vice of the ghost of Emanuel Swedenborg is to reject 
them all.] I therefore say there is no discrepancy of 
statement ; but the fact, nevertheless, was apparent 
to your mind, Judge ; neither has there been. You 
have asked this question to reconcile a discrepancy of 
statement ; but the fact, nevertheless, was as apparent 
to your mind as the solution of any other question 
based on the laws which govern the whole of God's 
universe, of which we claim to be a part." 

Here, in the clearest possible manner, is an example 
of the 'medium. Dr. Dexter, reading the mind of 
Judge Edmonds and telling him what he thought of 
this apparent discrepancy-a positive discrepancy, 
but onlv apparently so to his mind, because he so 
firmly believed in Swedenborg's notion that the little 
spirits do not grow to be big spirits in the ghostly 



232 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

spheres. That he did doubt the truthfulness of the 
message he heard read, is expressed by the phrase, 
" which was otherwise instructive." 

SPIRITUALISM IS REAL. PAKTHEISH. 

We here see that whether it is the ghost of Sweden- 
borg, Dexter, or the medium who thus reads the mind 
of Edmonds, by common consent they are all proved 
to be Pantheists, maintaining that the universe is 
the supreme God— /d;«, all ; theism^ God ; whence 
Pantheism, all in God. " What I say is based on 
the laws which govern the whole universe, of which 
ive claim to be a part.'" The only real difference 
between a Pantheist and an Atheist is, that the 
latter does not profess to believe in a God, but does 
believe in the universe ; while the former is a hypo- 
crite, professing to believe in God, but only believing 
in the universe of whom every thing is a part. If, 
then, an Atheist is a materialist, so is a Pantheist, 
and a hypocrite in addition. 

It will be remembered that Mr. Kiddle's daughter's 
ghost (MoUie) who figures so prominently in the ed- 
itor's book, on being asked what she thought of Judge 
Edmonds' book, said, " God is the author of it.'" Mr. 
Kiddle not only adopts this Pantheist book, and be- 
lieves his daughter's ghost when she says God is its 
author, but he believes Christ's nature to be an attri- 
bute of the Deity, and hence He also is a part of the 
universe. This is seen by the following question put 
to the ghost of Judge Edmonds, and its confirmatory 
answer : " Was not the Christ nature an attribute of 
the Deity, coeval with God?" "Yes; that is the 
truth. He is a created spirit fit to sit with God." 

The same argument as to God and the laws of the 



SPIRITUALISM IS REAL TANTHEISM. 233 

universe being coeval, applies with equal force in this 
attempt to reduce Christ to a principle of nature, 
equally showing the incongruity of the two answers. 
For if Christ was an attribute of God and coeval with 
Him, then they are both of an age, and came into 
existence at the same time ; and if one was created, 
as is here declared, then it or He had a creator ; and 
the creator must have existed before the creature ; 
hence they were not coeval. Here again we discover 
the erroneous philosophy and defective reasoning of 
the whole of these spirits, whether dead or living, 
whether in ghostland or earthland. But as they fully 
indorse each other — Swedenborg and his books, Ed- 
monds and his book, Kiddle and his book, and all 
the ghosts who have been consulted — therefore they 
are all materialists together ; and in whatever else they 
conflict, they agree in the harmonial J^hilosophy of driv- 
ing God out of His universe ! 

The Judge then propounded the following ques- 
tion : " The operation of the laws which develop 
sex is such that about if not exactly, an equal num- 
ber of each are born. Why is this ? Or rather, I 
mean to ask, is it not because man — born whenever 
he may be — is created male and female, and each 
male must have its female for all eternity ?" It was 
answered : " Imagine now, God the Eternal, the 
invisible in form, and possessing the attributes of a 
person, and you are lost in the comprehension of 
how that Being, great and omnipotent as He is, could 
exercise through all nature the power ascribed to 
Him as a God and Creator. Were He to exist in 
form. He must have had a correspondence with some 
Other mighty being preceding Him ; and we might 
reason thus forever without coming to any idea even 



234 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

of the nature and attributes of the Creator. But 
when we view Him as a principle, existing in every 
thing [here again Pantheism is declared], still re- 
solving itself into direct and pertinent manifestation 
of the incomprehensible specialties of His nature, 
we have a basis from which we can commence our 
reasoning. Now what is spirit ? Can it ever exist 
unconnected with some sort of materiality ? Can it 
ever divest itself of its covering, and stand in the 
presence of that God from whence it emanated — 
special, distinct, and pertinent — in form and shape a 
spirit ? Have you ever seen the spirit of the Creator 
separated from the works which He has created ? And 
yet the spirit of the First Cause is as distinctly mani- 
fest as if it were divested of its covering, and ap- 
parent to the gaze of all. In this world of ours there 
is nothing indicating that God is nearer us than on 
earth. I mean in the localities with which I am con- 
versant. But the self-same laws and the self-same 
principles in their effect and exhibition are manifest 
here as with you. In short, then, God is a principle. 
He is one self and without any distinctive character- 
istic as a person or sex." 

Did Spinoza ever have a more faithful follower ? 

SUPERFICIAL REASOHIHG. 

Here we have the arrogance of the thing made try- 
ing to comprehend its Maker ; and because of its in- 
capacity confounding Him with the universe, and 
then, by the use of sophistical and high-sounding 
words, thinking that because he has covered up his 
own ignorance it will be supposed he has approxi- 
mated a conception of his Maker by striking Him 
out of existence. But he has only changed the Creator 



SUTERFICIAL REASONING. 235 

from one form to another — from an organized person 
of the size and shape of a man, to a larger thing in the 
shape of a sphere. He has only divested the one of 
the gross attributes with which he has clothed the 
other. He has only deprived the one of a small lo- 
cality to give the other a larger one. 

Now suppose we invest the living, moving God 
Universe with limbs, head, and all the organs of a 
man, and give him the precise shape of a man, as 
large as the universe, would he be any the less the 
living Creator than though h? were still a mere man 
in form ? The highest created being that exists must 
be as much lower in the scale of being than the 
Creator Himself, as the highest created thing of which 
any of these are capable of making is lower in the 
same scale than he who made it. What, therefore, 
would be thought of a machine of man's creation, if 
it should declare of its maker that he could have had 
no form, was invisible, was nowhere in particular, 
but was equally distributed in the universe ; and that 
if he had a form and place, then there must have ex- 
isted another being greater than he, who was of a 
corresponding shape and nature with himself ; and, 
preceding him, there must have been still another of 
the same kind ? 

Here we have an illustration of the famous doctrine 
of Swedenborgian Correspondence. If this is not so, 
then the foolish machine would conclude that man, 
its maker, did not exist at all. Behold the pro- 
fundity of the wisdom of these ghostly travellers in 
space, and of the spirit seers yet on this mundane 
shore, with the little task on their hands of regene- 
rating the world with the light of Mr. Kiddle's book, 
into which is crowded all the material and immaterial 



236 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

brains of Swedenborg, Edmonds, and Kiddle, who 
were assisted in its composition by all the ghosts of 
outstretched boundless space ! 

APPAREETT IHSIHCERITY OF LEADIKG SPIRITUALISTS. 

That many of the most prominent Spiritualists are 
really honest, or desire to know the truth in regard to 
these phenomena, is, we think, at least questionable. 
In a recent conversation with a prominent Judge in 
New York, he remarked, " I would give all I am 
worth to know that the doctrine of a future state as 
held by the Spiritualists is true." In reply we asked if 
he would not do the same to be equally convinced that 
they were not true ; to which he responded emphati- 
cally, "No." Here is an old and intelligent Spiritual- 
ist who would pay to be deceived, and that too about 
a subject upon which hangs his eternal interests ! 
Nothing can be clearer than that a familiar spiritu- 
alist, or arconsulter with them, cannot be a Christian. 
Nothing can be more certain, from the account fur- 
nished in Judge Edmonds' book, of his investigations, 
than that from the outset he was strongly predisposed 
to ghostly interference in the production of these 
manifestations, as will be seen by the following quo- 
tation from his book, p. 421 : " The next question 
isj from whence do these manifestations, whether 
physical or moral, proceed ? Judge Edmonds was 
told that they were all according to natural laws, 
which would in due time be fully developed ; and he 
was directed to read Von Reichenbach's Dynamics 
of Magnetisjn ajid Electricity (a book he had never 
heard of before), as a means of enabling him to un- 
derstand these laws. I have read the book myself 
[so says Judge Edmonds]. The writer proves con- 



APPARENT INSINCERITY. 237 

clusively the discovery of a new clement, which he 
calls od, or odic force. He proves that this element 
pervades not only the human system, but the ma- 
terial world and the whole universe. He finds it in 
the rays of the sun, moon, and stars. Late English 
writers of high reputation consider the existence of 
the odic force as well established as that of magnet- 
ism or electricity. It combines many of the qualities 
of the two, and is antagonistic to some of them. 
[The antagonism is only its repellent force, which we 
have shown to be one of its natural endowments in 
all its modifications.] It may be presumed, there- 
fore, that this newly-discovered element enters, in 
some sort, into these manifestations. It is said that 
this accounts for the physical manifestations. But 
no one can show how it produces them. [This, then, 
is the very thing which should have engaged their 
attention and enlisted their patient investigation, in- 
stead of jumping blindly to the conclusion that it 
was the work of ghosts. Could the}', or have they, 
shown how the ghosts produce them ?] And even if 
this were proved, it still remains to account for the 
intelligence in the communications which are re- 
ceived. That as the intelligence does not come- from 
tables, or chairs, or other material objects, it must 
come from mind, or from a spiritual source ; and 
this new element may be the medium of conveying it 
to us." 

On page 40, referring to this matter. Judge Ed- 
monds says : " He [Von Reichenbach] named it odic 
force, and described it as an exceeding subtle fluid, 
existing with m.agnetism and electricity, found in fire 
and heat, and produced in the human body by the 
chemical action of respiration, digestion, and decom- 



238 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

position, and issuing from the body in the shape of a 
pale flame, with sparks, and smoke, and material in 
its nature, though so much sublimated as to be visible 
only to persons of a peculiar vision. In my experi- 
ments I have myself once or twice seen it, but I have 
met with those who could see it as readily as those 
through whom that German philosopher conducted 
his examinations. I was given to understand that 
this power was used in these manifestations, but how 
or in what manner I have not learned. I was also 
made to know that electricity and magnetism had 
something to do with them. In the course of my 
examination, I asked if I might know how this odic 
force was used ? I was told that it would be ex- 
plained to me [this is what he should have studied 
for himself, as it was a matter of science, and not in- 
dolently looked to ghosts for the information] ; and 
it was afterward attempted through the same medium 
by whose instrumentality I received the teaching 
which I have just, written. The manifestations on 
that occasion v/ere of a very extraordinary character. 
This is as far as I have been able to advance in an- 
swer to this question. My attention was soon drawn 
to other matters, namely, to the moral character of 
the teachings, and I was compelled to leave that in- 
quiry to others. I have related all I know on that 
subject, in the earnest hope that some one may pur- 
sue the investigation until we shall be able to under- 
stand it as well as we now do the steam-engine or 
the magnetic telegraph, for surely it must be that 
the knowledge is equally attainable by man." 

We venture the remark that had Judge Edmonds 
pursued this legitimately scientific investigation as 
patiently and exhaustively as he did the ghostly 



MIND READING AND JUDGE EDMONDS. 239 

phase of the subject, the world would never have been 
cursed with his book. That he left this work unfin- 
ished which if fully prosecuted would have demon- 
strated the folly of there being ghosts connected with 
these phenomena, showed him to be spirit-winged 
for the marvellous, and so, shutting his eyes to the 
light of nature, he plunged into the sea of ghostism ; 
thus demonstrating that he would rather prefer mak- 
ing sacrifices to induce self-deception than to know 
the truth. 

MIND READIHS AND JUDGE EDMONDS. 

It cannot be said in defence of the honesty of 
Judge Edmonds in making these investigations that 
he left the odic force theory for that of the ghosts, 
because it only comprehended what he designates as 
the physical manifestations, nor that he had no clue 
to the moral and intellectual ; for the power of one 
mind to read the knowledge of another was also 
brought to his attention early in his investigations, 
and that too by the so-called mediums, whom we 
consider very much less to blame for these " lying 
wonders" than the questioners who control them. 
Upon this subject Judge Edmonds, in his book, gives 
us the following : 

" Having thus, by a long series of patient inquiries, 
satisfied myself on this point [that is, a table moving 
by the odic force, without human contact], my ne.xt 
inquiry was. Whence comes the intelligence there is 
behind it ? P'or that intelligence was a remarkable 
feature of the phenomenon. Thus I have frequently 
known mental questions answered ; that is, questions 
merely framed in the mind of the interrogator, and 
not revealed by him or known to others. Preparatory 



240 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

to meeting a circle, I have sat down alone in my room 
and carefully prepared a series of questions to be pro- 
pounded, and I have been surprised to find my ques- 
tions answered, and in the precise order in which I 
wrote them, without my taking my memorandum 
out of my pocket, and when I knew that not a person 
present knew that I had prepared questions, much 
less what they were. My most secret thoughts (those 
which I have never uttered to mortal man or woman) 
have been freely spoken as if I had uttered them. 
Purposes which I have privily entertained have been 
thus publicly revealed ; and I have been once and 
again astonished that my very thought was known 
to, and could be disclosed by, the intelligence which 
was thus manifesting itself. 

" I have heard the mediums use Greek, Latin, 
Spanish, and French words, when I knew they had 
no knowledge of any language but their own ; and 
it is a fact that can be attested by many, that often 
there have been speaking and writing in foreign lan- 
guages and unknown tongues by those who were 
unacquainted with either. Still the question oc- 
curred, May not all this have been, by some mysteri- 
ous operation, the mere reflex of the mind of some 
one present ? 

' ' When I was absent last winter in Central America, 
my friends in town heard of my whereabouts and of 
the state of my health several times ; and on my re- 
turn, by comparing their information with the entries 
in my journal, it was found to be invariably correct. 
So in my recent visit to the West, my whereabouts 
and my condition were told to a medium in this city 
while I was travelling on the railroad between Cleve- 
land and Toledo. [It was only a greater distance at 



MIXD-READING FACTS. 241 

which the medium was reading his mind than though 
they were in the room together.] So thoughts have 
been uttered on subjects not then in my mind, and 
utterly at variance with my own notions. [Not then 
in his mind; but the only condition is, were they ever 
in his mind, and did he ever think differently upon 
the subject now revealed than subsequently ?] This has 
happened to me and to others, so as fully to establish 
the fact that it was not our minds that gave birth to 
or affected the communication." 

Here is where he was mistaken, and should have 
experimented. He would then have ascertained not 
only that the mediums could read thoughts as well 
at a distance as if present, but that by thinking about 
the medium, though thus distant, his mind would 
have conveyed his whereabouts and every circum- 
stance connected with him or about him, which had 
engaged his attention, 

MIIID-RnADIKa FACTS. 

From the same page we quote the following : 
" Kindred to this are two well-authenticated cases of 
persons who can read the thoughts of others in their 
minds. One is an artist of this city (New York), of 
high reputation, and the other the editor of a news- 
paper in a neighboring city. The latter wrote me 
that in company with three friends he had tried the 
experiment, and for over forty successive attempts 
found he could read the secret thoughts of his com- 
panions as soon as they were formed, and without 
their being uttered. So, too, there is an instance of 
two persons, one of them also a resident of this city, 
who can give a faithful delineation of the character, 
and even the prevailing mood of mind, of any person, 



242 KEY TO GHOSTISiM. 

however unknown to them, upon whom they fix their 
attention. These are not apocryphal cases. The 
parties are at hand, and in our very midst, and any 
person that pleases may make the investigation, as I 
have, to satisfy himself." 

Here, then, was a fact that a medium could read 
the knowledge of another from his brain ; and what 
is true of these cases mentioned by Judge Edmonds, 
is equally true of every clairvoyant, every mesmerized 
sleeper, and all others susceptible of the wakeful 
trance condition. How easy, therefore, to understand 
the source of all the intelligence connected with these 
phenomena, and which demonstrate there are no 
ghosts connected with them ! These magnetic nega- 
tives read every thought, past or present, from the 
mind of any one upon whom they fix their attention, 
or to whom their attention has been directed, whether 
present or absent, and then return what is thus read 
to the person himself, or others, in any shape they 
please, either as having thus read it from the mind 
or as having received it from a ghost of some dead 
friend of the man whose mind was thus read. In 
one instance, according to the education of the 
parties, the message thus read and returned would 
be known as clairvoyance, mesmerism, or psychology, 
and in the other a spirit message. 

If the Spiritualists are honest, we will propose a 
simple test by which they will know that these mes- 
sages do not come from ghosts. Let any of them di- 
rect the attention of any medium to their own mind, 
and desire them to read whatever thoughts or knowl- 
edge they find impressed on their brain, and there is 
not one of them who will be found incapable of read- 
ing whatever the inquirer knows or has ever known, 



MIND-READING FACTS. 243 

much of which may have passed from his present 
memory. They will not all read with the same ac- 
curacy, the difference being the degree of their 
supposed mediumship for spirit communications. It 
ma}' be necessary at first to take the medium by the 
hand — at least some of them — and direct them to ex- 
amine your brain. Tell them to dismiss the spirit 
explorations for the time being and attend to the 
power of mind over mind, and to this faculty which 
one mind has of reading the thoughts of another. 
The result of this practice upon both the inquirer 
whose mind is being thus revealed and the medium 
who is making the revelations will in a very short 
time convince both that there are no ghosts, after 
all, connected with the phenomena. Now if the 
Spiritualists will not make this simple test to ascer- 
tain the real facts in the case, does it not prove that 
they do not wish to be undeceived themselves, and 
that they are wilfully determined to carry on the de- 
ception and impose it upon others ? 

We will here refer to another test which any friend 
of a medium can try, to convince them both that 
there are no ghosts connected with this business. 
Every medium has what they consider a spirit as a 
control ; but by the will of this friend, while they are 
in the trance, they can be taken away from this sup- 
posed control and brought under his own will ; and 
the new control may make such a positive im- 
pression on their mind that they will not only never 
see another ghost, but disbelieve that there are any 
such in existence. To prove that mediums are under 
the real control of their living friends, any of these 
may make any medium deliver a pretended spirit 
message from the spirit land, and then in a moment's 



244 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

time make them declare the message was not from 
a spirit, and that the idea that there are such things 
at all is the simplest nonsense. Thus are the sup- 
posed mediums controlled by the ignorance or de- 
sign of the spirit believers, who are mere pens in the 
hands of those writing the foolish doctrines of a fu- 
tui^e state as the controls fancy and wish, and bring 
out such books of rubbish as Swedenborg's " Clair- 
voyant Dreams, " Judge Edmonds' and Dr. Dexter's 
"Spiritualism," Andrew Jackson Davis' "Mesmeric 
Visions, " and, to crown all for vast expectation and 
little realization, the volume of which Mr. Kiddle is 
only the editor ; thus shifting the responsibility from 
the ghosts to himself. 

SPIRIT THEORY EXPLODED, 

That the supposed ghosts are not composed or or- 
ganized of matter, as Swedenborg contends they are, 
and whose theory the science of Ghostism adopts, is 
proved by the fact that when any one of them is 
called by some individual in a circle, he is always on 
hand and in any country, whether he is a French, 
English, or American ghost. The universal law of 
the motion of matter or a material thing is, that it 
consumes time in going from one place to another. 
The rapidity of its motion is in proportion to its bulk 
and solidity, other things being equal. Electricity 
is the most sublimated form of matter known, and it 
consumes some minutes in crossing the Atlantic. If 
a call is made for a ghost who has reached the highest 
sphere — which is held by ghost science to be the planet 
Saturn, whose mean distance from the sun is nearly 
nine hundred millions of miles, and as far from the 
earth — he is on the spot as instantaneously as though 



ANOTHER TEST OF EXPOSURE. 245 

he had been in the room at the time. We have an 
account in the prophecy of Daniel in which the angel 
Gabriel was sent to make a revelation of a vision 
which he had previously received, and in which the 
following passage occurs : " Then said he unto me, 
Fear not, Daniel : for from the first day that thou didst 
set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself 
before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am 
come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom 
of Persia withstood me one and twenty days : but, 
lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me ; 
and I remained there with the kings of Persia" (Dan. 
10 : 12, 13). 

Another of the claims of Ghostism is, that the an- 
gels are all ghosts of dead men. But who ever heard 
of one of these being detained twenty-one days after 
a conjuration from a circle in order to transact some 
other business on the way ? What a monstrous fable 
that these ghosts are materiality, and yet can be thus 
present ! It really makes each of them ubiquitous. 
When did it happen, after the call of a ghost at a 
seance, that he was tardy, or offered as an apology 
for delay that he had been in the planet Saturn, and 
had come as soon as he could ; or that he had just 
returned to his spherical home from another circle, 
to which he had been called ? 

AITOTHER TEST OF KXPCS'JRK. 

As the Ghostites are so fond of making tests, we 
will suggest one more, which we demand shall imme- 
diately be made, and which, in the absence of all 
other proof, will put an end to the whole ghost mania, 
namely, that the same spirit — say that of Sweden - 
borg or Judge Edmonds — be summoned at the same 



246 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

moment by twenty different circles, in as many lo- 
calities. If it is the veritable ghost of either, it will 
not appear at any two of them at the same time ; but 
it will be found that Edmonds will be at every one 
of the twenty, or any number of seances, at the same 
hour, and stay during the whole session, delivering 
different messages to each. 

Nothing is more firmly held by the Spiritualists than 
that of spirit individuality and identity. That it is the 
real man that lived on earth, and only resided in the 
bodily form, out of which he moved at the event we 
call death. That in fact there is no death, only a sep- 
aration. That the man proper is always living, and 
knowing what he always knew and feeling what he al- 
ways felt. In a word, he is the same identical man he 
was before the separation took place. Granting all 
this, it follows that the man in ghostland can no more 
be in two places at the same time than he could when 
he was in earthland. That he can no more deliver 
two addresses at the same time and upon different 
subjects in the spirit state than he could in the mortal 
state. That he can no more have his intellectual 
organs engaged upon twenty different subjects at the 
same time when out of the form than while in it ; 
and, finally, that this identical Judge Edmonds can 
no more write — using the medium as his pen, or em- 
ploying the little slate-pencil — upon twenty different 
subjects at the same time and hour in the States of 
Ohio and New York, or (which is the same thing) in 
the spirit state and in the human state, and be the 
same person all the time. 

We believe there are scores of people deceived upon 
this subject who would be glad to escape the delusion, 
and here is a test that will accomplish the desirable 



GHOSTISM IS ANNIHILATION. 247 

work. Let any one of these who is acquainted with 
mediums make an arrangement by which two circles 
shall be held at the same hour. Then let each call 
Emanuel Swedenborg, and interrogate him upon 
different subjects and by different questioners. If 
they are honest, it will be found, as we have said, 
that Swedenborg will be present the whole self-same 
hour at both places ; thus demonstrating to all sen- 
sible people that he is present at neither. Hence we 
conclude that there are no ghosts connected with 
these phenomena, and therefore that they are pro- 
duced upon the scientific principles presented in this 
book. 

GHOSTISM IS AKIIIHILATION. 

If a man holds to the idea that the same power that 
made a thing can unmake it — that he who made a 
man who has failed to answer his pleasure and 
purpose can decompose him into his elements, or, 
if he is thus decomposed by the laws of nature, can 
recreate out of the same kind of elements that iden- 
tical being, preserving every physical, moral, and 
mental impression he ever received through a life of 
three score and ten : we say, if a man holds to this 
fundamental doctrine of Scripture and the Christian 
system, he is taunted by the Spiritualists as believing 
in annihilation. But the fact is that they themselves 
of all other classes teach the most perfect system of 
annihilation. 

Annihilation means to strike a thing out of exist- 
ence so that it does not occupy space, or that it is 
dissolved into its elements. That our charge is well 
founded, will be seen by pressing the question as to 
how much space a spirit occupies and fills. Let us 



248 KEY TO GHOSTISM. 

take a living man and confine him in a hermetically 
sealed metallic coffin so closely that no air or gas or 
the most sublimated ether can escape. The man has 
been thus confined ten hours, and of course the sepa- 
ration which the Spiritualists call death has taken 
place, and, as they also claim, the spirit has escaped 
into the spirit land ; from which it follows that it was 
so small that it passed through the atoms of the 
metal, or between some two of them which would 
not admit the smallest atom of the finest ether. 
Hence a spirit is not as large as such an atom. But 
as electricity can pass freely through such confine- 
ment, and as this is a modification of matter, the 
spirit may be this substance and occupy as much 
space as a given quantity of it does ; though it would 
take a hundred million of spirits which could pass 
out of such confinement to fill an area of space equal 
to a single human body. Let us ask the Spiritualists 
if the surface of the whole earth would furnish stand- 
ing room for all the ghosts of the dead ? Would they 
not answer Yes ? Well, would one half of it furnish 
sufficient room for their accommodation ? Would one 
quarter of it ? Would not a single square mile be 
ample for the purpose ? Still further ; could they 
not all crowd into a square acre ? Think carefully 
now, and say, if you can, to your own satisfaction, 
if all could not find room to sit down in a single 
square rod ? — in a square yard ? in a square foot ? in 
a square inch ? Just meditate before you answer, 
and tell us if they all would fill one inch of space, so 
that nothing more could be pressed into it than could 
be put into a square inch of space in which there was 
an exact square inch of gold ? We do not believe 
there is one of these spiritualistic philosophers who 



GHOSTISM IS ANNIHILATION. 249 

could be induced publicly to announce that all the 
spirits of the dead now in their spirit home would 
thus fill a square inch of space so solidly that no more 
matter could be pressed into it. Indeed, could they 
not all stand on the point of a cambric needle, and 
all the room be left ? And if so, they do not exist in 
space, and are therefore annihilated. 

So far as the body, with all its incomprehensible 
organization, is concerned, the Spiritualists claim it 
is annihilated. When the spirit goes out of the car- 
cass it is dead forever. Indeed, it never had any 
conscious existence, and never will have. Here, 
therefore, the body and spirit of the man are both' 
annihilated, or they do not exist in the universe, 
which is the same thing. Hence Ghostism combines 
materialism, annihilationism, and all the hateful and 
degrading forms of unbelief which have ever been 
arrayed against the Bible and Christianity, both by 
the heathen and civilized nations of the earth. 



THE END. 



Nm'-^»mi^»mml#f^ 



